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A New Dawn for
Patient Transport
A modernised and patient
cantered service is now available to patients requiring
non-emergency transport in 4 counties across
the North West as part of a new contract provided by the North West
Ambulance Service NHS Trust (NWAS).
The Trust submitted a tender for the contract to provide patient
transport in all North West counties last year and was successful in
its bid to run the service in Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire and
Cumbria. Since then, NWAS has taken the opportunity to re-examine
the service and introduced new measures not only to ensure full
compliance with the contract, but also to listen to the views of
patients and other stakeholders, resulting in a new and improved
experience for patients.
The improvements are underpinned by a new Patient Charter which
outlines the Trust's commitment to the care and safe transportation
of patients; providing the right care, at the right time and in the
right place. The Charter explains what patients can expect of the
Trust, how to access services and how to feedback their experiences
as well as what the service requires from them.
Kelly Jackson, newly appointed Head of Patient Transport Services
(PTS) explains:- "This is a major time of change for NWAS'
patient transport service with work being d1 to improve almost every
area of the service from streamlining our online booking service and
consistent use of eligibility criteria, to using the latest
technology on our vehicles and providing opportunities for regular
engagement with patients.
We are also delighted to be
able to provide an enhanced service to regular service users with
specialist needs; our cancer and haemodialysis patients. Increased
service operating hours, a more flexible service, dedicated
Freephone telephone numbers and an enhanced escalation process if
things go wrong; are some of the services we will offer our regular
patients.
Working in partnership with Staff Side we have completed a
restructure of managerial and support staff, improved training and
more flexible operational rosters, a number of initiatives have been
introduced to ensure a more responsive and accessible service which
benefits all our patients.
These benefits include:-
► A new operating model which involves us working with other
transport providers.
► New Freephone telephone numbers.
► A signposting service for patients who do not meet the eligibility
criteria.
► A dedicated, new PTS website which contains a wealth of
information and useful contacts.
► An advance patient reminder together
with a 'next patient collection' service for those who would like to
receive information via text or email.
With the new contract come fresh expectations of us as a
service provider and it was clear that in order to meet those, we
had to instigate change throughout the Trust. As with our emergency
colleagues, there are now clear targets that we must meet and we
have taken this opportunity to redesign the service. We have also
heavily invested in technology and telecommunications to provide
information on all aspect of the patient journey and ensure
effective dialogue between mobile staff and Control."
The 3 year contract to provide patient transport services begins on
1 April 2013 and NWAS' performance will be closely monitored by
Commissi1rs, NWAS managers and the Trust hopes, by the people who
use the service; the patients themselves.
Says Kelly:- "Feedback from our patients is very important to
us and to make this easier, we have developed the user friendly
website and will be providing on board leaflets which will clearly
explain how patients can relay their experience of the service to
us, whether that be a positive or negative.
This is a very exciting time
for the Trust.
We were disappointed to not
win the contract in Greater Manchester, but we have worked closely
with the new provider, Arriva Transport Solutions Limited, to ensure
a smooth transition for both staff and patients.
In addition a Memorandum of
Understanding between the 2 organizations will ensure that support
is still available in the event of a major incident.
As we start the new
financial year and begin to deliver this new contract, we are very
excited about the future and are looking forward to embracing the
challenges ahead of us."
The new PTS website can be found at:-
patienttransport.nwas.nhs.uk.
General patients with any enquiries regarding their bookings or
transport should contact:- 0800 0323240 (Freephone). Cancer
and haemodialysis patients should contact:- 0800 0289224
(Freephone). |
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Did you go to
the Liverpool British Science Association Sci-Bar Meeting?
THE Liverpool British
Science Association Sci-Bar met in The Ship and Mitre, 133 Dale St.
Liverpool, on Tuesday, 2 April 2013, for another of their regular
meetings. The guest speaker for the evening was Prof. David Healey,
an internationally renowned psychiatrist and psycho-pharmacologist.
He is a professor of Psychiatry, and Director of the N. Wales Dept.
of Psychological Medicine, both at Cardiff University. His talk was
entitled:- ‘Time to abandon evidence based medicine?’
It was a very thought provoking, if unsettling evening, as he spelt
out his concerns about the current practice of prescribing medicines
according to so called evidence of suitability and effectiveness,
based on short term controlled trials ‘scientific evidence’,
as opposed to evidence derived from the experiences of large numbers
of patients, and their doctors and pharmacists whose contributions
are dismissed as ‘anecdotal’ Dr Healey put forward a
very strong case for such evidence to be collated and considered
when assessing drugs and their usage in best practice. He cited
several examples of ways statistics can be manipulated but asserted
that the main problem is in the limited nature of the tests
themselves. If this intrigues you or you would like further
information should go
online. Most of us are
all aware that all drugs have side effect, and many can even kill,
so it is imperative that their choice and recommendations to doctors
regarding their uses are based on the best possible information, and
that drug companies consider all the evidence they can about
people’s experiences with their products. David Healey informed us
that forms are available through the
website for patients or their
relatives and friends to return, notifying their experiences. This
information will be collated and passed to the relevant authorities
without risk of getting lost en route. If anyone, having visited the
site wishes to comment on, to substantiate or refute matters, please
let us know by emailing us via are newsroom:-
news24@southportreporter.com.
For information about the British Science Association, Liverpool ,
find them on Facebook; search for 'Liverpool Sci-Bar'
or follow on Twitter @merseysci or visit the website:-
scibar.org.uk.
Hospital starts collection for charity food
bank
A hospital trust is
starting collections to support a local food bank for people in
need.
Chief Executive Jonathan Parry was inspired by the generosity of
staff who gave to a small charity food collection started in the
kitchen of the Trust's head office.
"Michelle Bradley, 1 of our clinical audit staff, asked if she could
start a collection and we were overwhelmed by the response from
colleagues. So, we began to look into how we could scale it up and
tap into the goodwill of staff, patients and visitors." said
Mr Parry.
The Trust has now teamed up with national housing charity Green
Pastures and its partner Shoreline Church in Southport to trial a
food bank collection point that every1 can contribute to at the
hospital's main entrance. The church runs the food bank in the town
which originally received food collected by staff.
Mr Parry added:- "Food banks have sprung up out of nowhere
over the past couple of years and I'm delighted we can support the
spontaneous generosity of ordinary people who want to help those in
need. Our job is to make poorly people better whether it's in
hospital, in the community or at home. Where we can, we also want to
prevent ill health and this scheme helps by keeping needy people
fed."
Food donations will be collected regularly by church volunteers and
should include dried and packet goods, such as pasta, tinned produce
and boxes of cereal as well as toiletries and nappies. Fresh or
frozen products should not be given.
Julie Woods, manager of the Shoreline Foodbank, said the foodbank
was established in 2011 and has seen a 500% increase in demand in
just 18 months.
Julie added:- "We believe we are going to be inundated with
families needing food in the next months, so we need as much food
and volunteer help as we can get."
Pastor Pete Cunningham, co-founder of Green Pastures Housing,
added:- "We have only just scratched the surface of need at
the moment. The latest cutbacks will have an adverse affect on
thousands of families across this region and we have to be prepared.
We want to thank Jonathan Parry for his forward thinking. We look
forward to other ways in which we can work together in the future
for the benefit of local communities." |
