AMBULANCE OPERATIONS SPECIALIST PATIENT TRANSPORT SERVICES

AMBULANCE OPERATIONS SPECIALIST PATIENT TRANSPORT SERVICES

2 ST JOHN AMBULANCE AMBULANCE OPERATIONS TRANSPORTING PATIENTS EFFICIENTLY AND WITH CARE St John Ambulance is a leading not-for-profit provider of specialist patient transport services across England. We build, mobilise and equip professional ambulance crews, providing out-of-hospital care to over 125,000 patients across the country, every year. We deliver caring specialist transport services and have a wealth of experience in providing high-quality transport services to CCGs, NHS Foundation Trusts and private healthcare providers. Together, we achieve targets, outputs and outcomes, building capacity which releases your resources to focus on other important priorities. St John Ambulance was the original and only provider of an ambulance service in the UK until the middle of the 20th century, when the NHS was created. Since then we have worked in partnership with the NHS to develop and maintain the highest level of care for patients. Today, any profit gained from our commercial work in ambulance operations is reinvested back into our charitable activities to teach communities first aid. St John Ambulance is registered with and regulated by the Care Quality Commission. We are a trusted partner of the NHS and are proud of our reputation as a provider of safe, high-quality care. TRANSPORT AT THE HEART OF SERVICE INTEGRATION St John Ambulance provides a range of services that support health and social care organisations as they continue to explore more innovative solutions to reduce cost pressures across local systems. Our specialist services include: Specialist discharge services Non-emergency patient transport Hospital transfers Paediatric and neonatal transfers Bariatric services Our services are built around the needs of patients and result in more integrated and efficient care pathways: All our crews are professionals, trained to the highest standards. We provide a timely and responsive service to ensure that we will be there when you need us. We utilise our local knowledge to focus our service, and routes, on the patients who can benefit most from our services. We work on preventative steps to reduce the demand and the reliance of patients on local emergency services, whilst also alleviating overloaded wards and departments by providing increased capacity where you need it most. As a national charitable organisation, we work in partnership to connect local, regional and national agendas around a shared goal: strengthening community resilience and sustainability. We work with partners to join up care and maximise service efficiencies across complex local systems. We are competitively priced, ensuring that we deliver value for money and a strong return on investment. What separates us from other transport providers is our unique blend of efficiency and effectiveness, combined with our commitment to improving health for all. Our ability to respond and adapt, as well as our wider social impact are just some of the reasons why many of our customers repeatedly commission us. We saw staff who were respectful, friendly, kind and compassionate when providing treatment or care to patients. They spoke with patients in a gentle manner and offered reassurance, particularly if the patient was distressed. Staff told us and we observed a positive culture within the service. Staff clearly cared for, supported each other, and were comfortable raising concerns. CQC Report October 2016

4 ST JOHN AMBULANCE AMBULANCE OPERATIONS A PATIENT CENTRED SERVICE St John Ambulance is a caring organisation and our goal is to ensure that we deliver a patient focused service to all your patients. By following our Patient Charter*, we will ensure the most efficient transfer or discharge of your patients. We make sure that patients are as settled as possible, and we will wait as long as we need to, even when their appointments are running late. We found that St John delivered a first-class service, the staff I worked with were polite and professional and are qualified to work either on Patient Transport or A&E, which is good should the need to cross-work become necessary. The patients who use our service have a positive experience. Yorkshire Ambulance Service prides itself on delivering a high-quality service and we expect the same from our third-party suppliers St John delivered a seamless service. Bob Green, Service Delivery Manager, Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust We pride ourselves on offering tangible value to our customers too, including directly contributing to the NHS Outcomes Framework, by ensuring patients have a positive experience of our care and they are provided with a safe and protective service. EXPERIENCED AND DEDICATED STAFF OUR FLEET The safety of crew, medical staff, patients and their families is always at the forefront of our vehicle purchasing and design. Our vehicles are converted from new, meeting the EC and UK legislation for roadworthiness, environmental and carbon footprint regulations. We deliver the highest standards of infection control by ensuring vehicles are kept in a clean and serviceable condition at all times. WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP Our national coverage, (based upon a structure which mirrors the NHS ambulance service regional footprint), means we are able to provide efficient and responsive support, drawing capacity from neighbouring regions, enabling us to provide a truly seamless and flexible service. St John Ambulance staff are skilled and committed professionals because we recognise that exceptional care results in a positive patient experience and better health outcomes for all. Our staff: On purchasing vehicles we convert them into specialist ambulances to convey bariatric, neonatal, renal and patients with additional complex needs. We pride ourselves on providing a highly adaptable service, working collaboratively to respond to variation in demand. We build strong relationships to proactively contribute towards shared system outcomes and the quality standards associated with effective patient care. Uphold our values of compassion and excellence and are recruited to ensure that patient safety, dignity and comfort is built into everything that we do. ALWAYS PERFORMING PROFESSIONALLY AND EFFICIENTLY Are always qualified for the job, appropriately dressed, courteous, honest and respectful of the privacy and cultural beliefs of our patients and their families. Receive investment in their continuous professional development to ensure that they remain professionally qualified and skilled to deliver the highest possible service standards. Are highly experienced and caring, they are the foundation of each and every journey. *View our Patient Charter online at sja.org.uk/ambulanceoperations The service had created an innovative national CPD portfolio which was being rolled out and used by all staff. CQC Report, May 2017 PLACE BASED CARE We know that every community is different. We adapt our services to suit the local footprint by providing dedicated, specialist support, aligned to sustainability and transformation plans, where we can achieve the best health and social care outcomes. Our innovative and adaptable services are sensitive to the needs of local patients and the wider regional health and care system pressures.

6 ST JOHN AMBULANCE AMBULANCE OPERATIONS CASE STUDY LONDON AMBULANCE SERVICE CASE STUDY SOUTH THAMES RETRIEVAL UNIT THE CHALLENGE THE CHALLENGE St John Ambulance has been working in partnership STRS is a children s intensive care transport and When needed, we deploy a skilled paediatric intensive care with the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust (LAS) advice service, which specialises in the inter-hospital team to assist in the treatment of critically ill children, both since 2012, releasing the Trust s capacity to provide transfer of critically ill children in London. They before and during transfer to intensive care. additional high dependency and complex (Bariatric) transport services from home to hospital, as well as interfacility-transfers. THE SOLUTION Up to ten vehicles are deployed daily across London from two operating bases. Our complex needs vehicle works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on a rolling rota from a central pan London location. Our 120 highly challenged St John Ambulance to provide advice and support to local clinicians and their young patients and to provide added capacity and resilience to their existing operations. THE SOLUTION The experienced St John Ambulance team provide a support service for clinicians on potential critical care transfers and liaisons. They provide sub-specialists and IMPACT St John Ambulance successfully completes around 800 retrievals per year and our staff and vehicles provide support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. WHAT OUR PATIENTS SAY experienced Emergency Transport Attendants work 12 hour shifts, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Our staff receive additional training to deal with patients with complex needs and staff are able to support patients and any medical staff as required. Crews are also trained to facilitate blue light transfers when required. IMPACT St John Ambulance has successfully transported around 20,000 patients in partnership with the LAS, including 250 patients per month who are classed as high dependency. We attend monthly review meetings where cases are discussed, as well as to provide assurance that we are meeting their stringent key performance indicators. transport solutions within one service. I simply cannot praise highly enough the care and understanding the crew displayed their swift action in attending and diagnosing the problem was quite simply the difference between life and death....how wonderful the crew were and how happy he was that he booked us. He said that the crew were incredibly good with the patient and very professional......it was a superb service that you provided. Alison and Jamie are a credit to the Ambulance Service. Mum arrived very happy and has settled well into her new home....in her words, the crew were absolutely brilliant with her daughter and she couldn t thank them enough. She is now home and feeling much better. Please convey our thanks to your ambulance team for their great care and professionalism in the way they acted in taking my wife to hospital at a very distressing time for her. The crew were absolutely wonderful with their care. They handled the entire journey with complete professionalism and compassion, whilst at the same time acting with kindness and dedication towards my husband.

PATIENT FOCUSED SUPPORT THERE WHEN YOU NEED US For further information about Ambulance Operations: St John Ambulance 2017 I Registered charity no. 1077265/1 Calls cost 2p per minute plus your phone company s access charge. Call 0303 003 0106 Email ambulance-services@sja.org.uk Visit sja.org.uk/ambulanceoperations