11.09.15
Ambulance trusts will have legal duty to integrate with police – Cameron
NHS ambulance foundation trusts will have a statutory duty to work with police and fire services to improve delivery, prime minister David Cameron announced today (11 September).
Under a series of radical transformations to the way these three emergency services work, ambulance services will have to identify new opportunities to collaborate with Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and fire and rescue authorities (FRAs).
A consultation paper published today, set to run until 16 October, also put forth plans to encourage trusts to consider PCC representation on their council of governors.
There are ten regional ambulance trusts providing services in England, of which five are foundation trusts. Each FT is governed by a council that represents the interests of the public, ambulance staff and partner organisations, as well as influences the trust’s strategic direction.
The government backs claims that PCCs have an “important role to play” in how their local NHS ambulance service is run to reduce pressures and help those needing medical treatment.
The consultation said: “We want to see PCCs and NHS ambulance trusts working more closely together to ensure the demand the police and NHS ambulance services place on each other, on a day-to-day basis, is dealt with in the most effective and efficient manner.
“The government is also committed to continue to encourage joint working with the NHS ambulance service, whether on co-responding or the wider agenda to improve health outcomes.
“This will help the NHS ambulance services focus on its core role of delivering clinical NHS services. The government expects the NHS ambulance service to do more in helping people access the right care closer to home through greater collaboration with primary and community care so that people are only transported to A&E when their clinical condition requires it.”
It is drawing on examples of currently integrated services to endorse its proposals, such as by citing Northamptonshire’s joint operations team which plans all operational activity across the three emergency services.
Changes will mean that PCCs will be able to harness the local partnerships they have built across their force areas to help ambulance trusts achieve their aims. This should therefore help reduce “inappropriate demands” that these two services place upon the other.
Since each ambulance trust covers more than one police force area, the government will allow each trust decide with relevant PCCs what representation works best locally.
Minister for communities and resilience, Mark Francois MP, also highlighted the benefits of integrating ambulance services with FRAs.
NHE had revealed in August early plans to integrate these services through a multi-agency deal between NHS England, Public Health England, the Local Government Association and Age UK.
The “working relationship” established by these bodies would unify services as a way to improve the quality of life of those who could benefit from health checks.
As greater details of the integration were announced today, Francois said: “With the number of fires continuing to fall each year, locally-led collaboration across blue light services can benefit everyone by freeing up frontline staff, investing in fire prevention programmes and allowing for faster response times when incidents do occur.
“We want to remove any bureaucratic barriers to joint working and allow local leaders to make the arrangements that work best for them.”
(Top image c. Eddie)