New ambulance system delay

A new ambulance-management system, designed to be more resilient at high-demand times, has been pushed back by two weeks for further testing and staff training.

A report also says the Royal Shrewsbury and Princess Royal Hospitals’ A&E departments see around 400 patients a day over the winter peak.

They are classed as being in “surge” when more than six ambulances per hour arrive at the Shrewsbury hospital or eight at Telford and the departments have more than 20 patients.

The figures are in the Winter Plan compiled by the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, and Powys A&E Delivery Board, which has committed to at least twice-daily conference calls to manage patient flow over the winter.

EMS+ (Escalation Management System) is a region-wide early warning system to help ambulance services prioritise and direct patients in line with demand.

The Winter Plan authors write: “We had planned to implement the EMS+ system in December, but training and testing has resulted in a further development in the system being necessary before we go live, so we are hoping that we start using this process from Mid-December.

“Until then, our existing escalation management process will continue.”

The plan, co-authored by four NHS trusts, including the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire Councils, Severn Hospice and NHS Wales, describes the procedure for switching from day-to-day demand to “surge” demand.

It says SaTH’s two A&E departments “regularly manage a range of attendances per day of 350-420 at seasonal peaks”, adding that: “The trust is in surge when ambulance attendances rise to more than six (RSH), eight (PRH) per hour over a three-hour period and the departments have in excess of 20 major patients.”

Region-wide, it continues: “In the event that the system experiences significant or sustained pressure issues, at least twice-daily conference calls will be undertaken to identify and respond to the pressures in the system when agreed triggers are reached.

“During the winter period, we have agreed to have at least two calls at 10.30am and 2pm each day.

“The calls will be chaired by the system urgent care director or CCG commissioning lead or deputy and will eventually use the EMS+ system to both arrange the call and also to record the actions on the call.”

The Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee – which includes members of both Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin councils – will discuss the plan when it meets on Monday, November 26.