Agenda item
Motion B: Ambulance motion
Proposer: Councillor Paul Hodgkinson
Seconder: Councillor Gina Blomefield
Council notes with concern the latest ambulance response times for the Cotswold district. For category 1 cases the target time to arrive at a patient’s home is 8 minutes on average but in the Cotswolds this is running at 13 minutes and has been increasing this year. Northleach and Bourton Vale wards are running at 22 minutes. For category 2 cases the target is 18 minutes but this is running at 57 minutes. Chedworth and Churn Valley Ward is the joint worst in the county at one hour, 2 minutes. Council also notes the excellent work of first responders and paramedics who are doing their best in challenging times.
Residents want to feel reassured that the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) (described as having the worst performance of all ambulance trusts in the country in a recent County Council Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee report) is taking steps to improve.
Council instructs the Chief Executive to write to the CEO of SWASFT asking him for a full report on what steps he will be taking to improve ambulance response times in the Cotswold District as well as providing more support to grow the Community First Responder teams whose assistance is invaluable and thereafter invite him to attend the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to discuss his report and the actions resulting from it. Council also instructs the Chief Executive to write to the Chair of the county’s Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee asking that committee to express this Council’s concerns at its next meeting and to regularly scrutinise ambulance performance as a standard agenda item. Finally, Council instructs the CEO to write to our two MPs asking them to raise this issue in Parliament and to lobby SWASFT on our behalf.
Minutes:
The Chair called the proposer of the motion Councillor Paul Hodgkinson to introduce the motion. The following points were made in doing so:
- There had been sustained campaign efforts over 10 years regarding the poor ambulance response times across the Cotswold District and wider Gloucestershire area.
- It was stated that the most urgent emergency calls that should arrive within 8 minutes and urgent calls arrive within 18 minutes, but these targets were not being achieved.
- The issues with ambulance response times was particularly a problem in rural parts of the area which were higher than those of more urban areas of Gloucestershire.
- The latest statistics for the District showed the severe issues with rural response times. Category 1 cases that should get to patients within 8 minutes were not being met with several examples highlighted of average response times in specific locations being over 20 minutes. Category 2 cases were also serious and should be responded to on average in 18 minutes. However, there were several places within the District where the average was around 60 minutes.
- The work of first responders and ambulances was commended for their dedication and care, but the service needed to improve for those patients waiting.
- The motion would ensure that there was a clear oversight of the work of the ambulance service and how it should improve.
Council noted the delay to ambulance response times because of the problems with the lack of available beds to take patients, and it was asked whether that work needed to be done to help the issue of response times. Councillor Hodgkinson responded by agreeing with the need for these bottlenecks to be cleared, but there needed to be further resources for the ambulance service.
Council asked how the motion could help get clarity of the local issues amidst the wider issues with the National Health Service. Councillor Hodgkinson noted that it was important for Councillors to hear from the management of the service to see what the issues were, and for the management to see how Members took these issues seriously.
There were various comments regarding the longstanding multi-faceted issues in the National Health Service and the social services sector which would have an impact on ambulance response performance.
Council commended the work of emergency response services in sometimes dangerous circumstances.
It was highlighted that there were issues with the real terms funding position of the National Health Service over various years.
Councillor Blomefield seconded the motion and made the following points:
- It was welcomed that the motion had a cross-party support and also the aim to have the relevant bodies engage with the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
- An example of a resident in Chipping Campden who had died following a very long wait for an ambulance was highlighted to show the problems within the service.
- Community First Responders would be a key part of helping the ambulance service and former Councillor Stephen Andrews was one of these responders.
- It was hoped that the South West Ambulance Service would attend Overview and Scrutiny Committee at a future meeting.