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SUMMER 2007 The Newsletter for the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust Record-breaking service Merthyr Ambulance Locality Officer Irene Whitnell with her team of RRV paramedics. From left, are Simon Morgan, Damon Jones, Steve Lloyd, Martyn Phillips and Huw Whittington. HE performance of the Welsh Ambulance Service is the best As well as for reaching patients, there are targets for getting transport it’s ever been since it was formed in 1998 – and it’s getting to life-threatening (Category A emergencies) according to whether the better all the time. call is in an urban, semi-urban or rural area – 14, 18, and 21 minutes TLess than a year ago, we were under fire from all quarters for our respectively. poor performance – now we’re breaking records for the right reasons. Here too there has been a dramatic improvement, from 80.6 per As a result, an extra 70 people who are suffering life-threatening cent six months ago to 93.8 per cent currently, only just under the emergencies are being reached within the target time every a week. target 95 per cent. According to Chief Executive Alan Murray, the dramatic Similarly for Category B (non-life threatening emergencies) the improvement is down to two things – the modernisation programme improvement has been from 78.2 per cent to 85.6 per cent. and you. Focus is also being put upon urgent journeys – ambulance calls Alan is confident that the modernisation plan, Time to Make a requested by GPs – and here too there are signs of improvement. Difference, will help deliver a world class service. Alan said: “I’m happy to say that the Welsh Ambulance Services We set a new record for emergency performance in April when staff Trust today is already a very different organisation from that which reached 66.3 per cent of life-threatening emergencies inside eight was so heavily criticised in the reports of the Auditor General, minutes. Healthcare Inspectorate Wales and the Wales Audit Office. That’s against a Welsh Assembly Government target of 60 per cent “All those reports pointed out there was good reason to be and compares with the previous record, set in March 2004, when the optimistic about the future and their faith is being borne out by figure reached 63.03 per cent. the improvement in our performance, and I want to thank staff for In March they had topped 60 per cent for the first time since then making it happen. with 61.7 per cent and in May month the figure was 65.7 per cent for “We have some excellent staff who have proven themselves to be all of Wales. overwhelmingly ready for change, so long as they understand its Since 2001 only three previous months had exceeded the target –– impact on good patient outcome.” now it’s happened for three months in a row and in all three regions The drive for that improved performance has been spearheaded by Current performance is the best since the introduction of the life- Director of Ambulance Services Mike Cassidy who also took personal threatening emergency target of eight minutes in 1999, a year after control of South East region. the foundation of the Trust. He said: “During the first three weeks of April we reached 1,367 It has been found that 43 per cent of cardiac arrest patients survive if patients in life-threatening emergencies inside eight minutes. they receive treatment within four minutes and in March, we reached “That means an extra 70 people a week throughout Wales compared 105 more such patients within four minutes than in February and in to the same period last year. April this rose by a further 168. “These are people with chest pains and cardiac arrests and if we get This represents 159 more chest pain and cardiac patients in March to them inside eight minutes that gives them a better chance of a and 315 more in April than in the same months last year. successful outcome. That immediate response is being supported right down the line in “We are not pursuing these response times for their own sake but the Service’s performance. because it leads to a better chance of survival for patients.” page 5 page 7 page 12 Managing merger Thanks Hook kicks off Alan Murray Says... GALORE This is not the same organisation as it was last year. It is AWARDS once again a respected part of the public service in Wales. WO South Wales ambulance technicians involved in a dramatic railway rescue have been Zoe Price and was presented to her this MP at the House of Commons on Thursday, There is no doubt that we’re doing better: a lot better. honoured for their work. week at Aberdare Ambulance Station May 3. The improvement is down to two things – our Long-standing friends and colleagues Mark Dyer and Sian Richards both received Zoe Price was on her way home from work They won it for a dramatic race against modernisation programme, Time to Make a Difference, Tcommendations from British Transport Police for the skill and dedication they displayed in very when Colin James collapsed at the wheel time to meet up with an ambulance at and the commitment of staff and volunteer responders difficult circumstances when a young man was trapped beneath a train. as he drove his bus through Cwmamman, Porthmadog football ground last year after alike. They had to crawl underneath a stationary train to help the injured man, with just a few inches Aberdare. local boatbuilder Mike Webber suffered a We are arriving faster at the scenes of emergencies, both of headroom to manoeuvre – and immediately above them was an extremely hot exhaust pipe. But Zoe, 22, went to his aid using tips heart attack at work. with RRVs and with the follow-up ambulances, in every locality in Wales. Performance is the best it has been The two colleagues were based in Barry when they she’d picked up from breakfast television Within two minutes of touching down since an all-Wales Ambulance Service was created in received the late-night call on August 1 that a man was show GMTV, Casualty and ER as well as alongside the ambulance, Mike, a 57-year- 1997. Our lead story explains what this means for patient trapped underneath a train at Canton, Cardiff. her training. old grandfather from Borth y Gest, near outcomes. The four-carriage train had come to a halt about 200 The care worker telephoned 999, started Porthmadog, went into cardiac arrest but by Our Business Plan for 2007/08, approved by the Board in yards from Canton station and the man, who was in his Mr James’ breathing again and continued then Ian and Meurig were alongside him. May, is all about the improvements we will deliver as part 20s and believed to be a student, was lying between the to treat him until the ambulance arrived on They were preparing to administer the of the modernisation programme during the coming year. tracks halfway between two of the carriages. scene just five minutes later. thrombolysing drug which busts the clots It is a huge programme and there are four priorities which “Apparently he had been drinking and Aberdare paramedic supervisor Nigel which cause a heart attack when they realised cannot be allowed to slip. They are: ventured onto the line. The train had hit Phillips was on the scene in a Rapid Mike had gone into cardiac arrest. • To continue improving the clinical effectiveness him and he was dragged down the track, Response Vehicle, along with an ambulance, “The first thing we did was to thump him in of EMS. WO paramedics were taken aback when but amazingly he had no broken bones,” within eight minutes and he said: “This the chest,” explained Meurig, aged 38, from the patient they were treating revealed her • To build a reliable, punctual and competitive said Mark, 42. young lady should be very proud, she has Dolgellau: “His heart didn’t start beating again PCS under customer-centred leadership. identity – as chairman of a hospital Trust. “He was screaming and shouting done a great job. so we shocked him twice with the defibrillator. TBut they need not have worried as Hilary • To reshape and improve our services in but I couldn’t believe it because most “It’s all part of the chain of survival. We “The second time he sat bolt upright and partnership with key stakeholders. Stevens was so impressed by the care and people who are hit by a train are were there quickly but the fact that Zoe started screaming – that was good. attention she received from Eifion Howatson and • To achieve our SCEP target for 2007/08 . killed and it’s usually very messy,” was able to start CPR so soon has given Mr “Then we gave him the clot-busting drug As part of the drive to improve the clinical effectiveness Gareth Williams that she nominated them for a he said. James a much better chance of survival. and loaded him on the aircraft and Bob special award. of EMS, there will be a greater focus on equity so that the Mark and Sian, 35, crawled Zoe, who had just finished a 12-hour shift, Kendall flew him to Ysbyty Gwynedd to the general improvement in the service is spread more evenly And as one of her final acts as chairman of underneath the train and, working said: “Suddenly we felt a thud and saw the cardiac care unit. the Conwy and Denbighshire NHS Trust, Mrs throughout all our communities in Wales.