Ambulance services in Lincolnshire have been boosted after a multi-million pound investment deal was struck.
East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) and Hardwick Clinical Commissioning Group have signed off a new contract which will provide an extra £9 million in the first year.
This will allow for more clinical staff being provided as well as the addition of more ambulances and other much-needed resources.
This figure will then rise to £19 million should EMAS ensure it hits performance targets set out as part of the agreement.
This will include the response time of ambulances to 999 calls.
Richard Henderson, EMAS Chief Executive, said: “I am delighted that, by working together with commissioners, we have identified and agreed the level of funding needed. We will be able to make significant improvements to the quality of our services as a result, most notably in terms of being able to respond more quickly and more consistently to our patients.
“People working at EMAS have worked tremendously hard to deliver a good service despite various pressures relating to demand. It will be fantastic news to everyone that we will soon be joined by new colleagues and have access to additional opportunities for career development within EMAS. It’s a very exciting time to be working here.
“However, there is a lot more work to be done and these changes will not happen overnight. Over coming months, we will focus on recruiting many more staff, purchasing more ambulances and equipment, and ensuring that everyone has access to the right training, development and support needed to ensure we deliver consistently outstanding care to our patients.
“We will also be working with commissioners and our healthcare partners across the entire region to address issues that impact directly on our performance, not least in reducing critical handover delays at some hospitals; these account for an average of over 190 hours every day when our ambulances are unable to respond to emergency calls.”
(Image: East Midlands Ambulance Service)
The additional funding has been agreed following a jointly commissioned, independent ‘demand and capacity review’, which looked at ways services could be improved.
Chris Clayton, Chief Executive Officer for Derbyshire CCGs, said: “We’re pleased to have agreed new contract terms with EMAS which will help patient response times be successfully met.
“By working closely with EMAS we’ve been able to agree appropriate funding to support them in delivering the new national standards.
“Our job as commissioners is to make sure taxpayers’ money is spent wisely and well, giving all patients the best possible care.
“Each contract we agree is important and also affects the available funding we have for other provider services, such as urgent hospital care, so it’s crucial that we balance needs very carefully before making any commitment.”
He added: “To make sure this investment of extra cash is doing what is needed for patients we will be continuing to work with EMAS to review key performance indicators on a quarterly basis.
“These measures will assess EMAS’ ability to make improvements to response times as additional resources, such as new ambulances, crews and 999 call handlers, are brought on board.
“As a result, we expect to see an improvement in performance to patient response times.”
