Report attached.

Contact: Mark Docherty, Director of Clinical Commissioning and Service Development \ Executive Nurse

Pippa Wall, West Midlands Ambulance Service gave a presentation (copy attached to the signed Minutes) which covered the following areas:

·         Firmographics

·         Trust Overview – Progress

·         CQC Rating

·         Vision, Values, Strategic Objectives and Priorities

·         Operating Plan – Key Messages

·         Quality Account 2019/20

·         Activity, Demand and Performance

·         Comparison of Activity with Contract

·         Shropshire Performance

·         Rural Performance Comparison

In response to a query about how performance in the North of the County compared to the South, Ms Wall explained that she would have to take that away and find out in order to provide an accurate response.  The Chairman queried the reasons behind the relatively low ambulance usage per 1,000 of the population per year.  In response, Ms Wall explained that there had been an 8% increase, over contract in usage and that for 2018/19 activity had again increased and she agreed to find out whether there had been any update to those figures.  She reported that the older population only called the service when they really need it as they did not want to bother the service or did not wish to travel from their home.

Dr Julie Davies, Director of Performance and Delivery, Shropshire CCG explained that there appeared to be no underlying cause for the increase in demand for ambulances and that a trial was being undertaken to see how best to increase public knowledge of alternatives to using the ambulance service.  It was suggested that this be looked at in a future meeting.

Turning to Performance by Post Code, the Chair drew attention to the fact that the West Midlands Ambulance Service had only achieved its performance target for two post codes in Shropshire which was abysmal.  Ms Wall responded that the Trust level data was the best in the Country.  Mr David Stout, the Accountable Officer, Shropshire CCG felt that the Trust average did not show much and that Staffordshire and Herefordshire did better for a similar size contract and that indeed Shropshire was the worst in the West Midlands.

Ms Wall explained that the Service only had so many resources available to it and if an ambulance was out of the area it would take longer to respond to an incident in another area.  Response times obviously varied depending on when and where the activity was.  The Service responded as well as it could within the available resources.

In response to a query, it was confirmed that ambulance crews were trained in childbirth however they could undertake further training or get experience on the ward in their own time, if they wished.  Ms Wall explained that staff were being trained to provide improved services in pre-hospital environments and that opportunities for shadowing were provided.  She reported that a Senior Midwife had been appointed. 

In response to a query about whether the Service had any issues around being called inappropriately, Ms Wall explained that there would always be an element of this however it seemed to be less of a problem in Shropshire.  It was usually identified during the call but the call handlers were very much reliant on the information provided at the point of the call.