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Failing ambulance service monitored by CCG

Failing ambulance service monitored by CCG
9 December 2013



West Norfolk clinical commissioning group (CCG) has ordered the local ambulance service to be faster in handing over patients. 
Crews from the East of England Ambulance Trust could take up to an hour handing over patients at Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital. 
But West Norfolk CCG believes the ambulances should be handing over patients in 15 minutes. 

West Norfolk clinical commissioning group (CCG) has ordered the local ambulance service to be faster in handing over patients. 
Crews from the East of England Ambulance Trust could take up to an hour handing over patients at Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital. 
But West Norfolk CCG believes the ambulances should be handing over patients in 15 minutes. 
A report presented to the CCG’s governing board states that in October alone 1,226 handovers were delayed by more than 30 minutes, and in 226 cases patient handovers took 60 minutes longer than they were supposed to. 
West Norfolk CCG said it will continue to monitor response times until the services is “consistently working to an acceptable standard. 
A statement from the CCG said: “[We] work closely on a daily basis both with the hospital and the locally based managerial team of the ambulance service to ensure that wherever possible any delays are proactively managed in real time and resolved as quickly as possible.
“We will continue to work this way until we are sure that the service is consistently working to an acceptable standard.”
Currently, the service gap is equivalent to more than 30 ambulances and seven rapid response vehicles (RRV). To meet the standards the service would need an increase of 5,250 ambulance hours and 1,204 RRV hours over the next three years.
The trust is looking at a number of ways to make both ends meet, including making certain areas more efficient and negotiations with CCGs.
But the East of England Ambulance Trust said it would need between £25-£30 million to bridge the shortfall. 

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