Agenda item

LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS AS REQUIRED BY LAW

(Papers relied on to write the report, which do not contain exempt information and which are not published elsewhere)

Contact Officer, telephone number and email:

Matt Stembrowicz, Democratic Services & Governance Officer (Scrutiny),

01263 516047, Matthew.Stembrowicz@north-norfolk.gov.uk

The DS&GOS introduced the item and informed Members that he had prepared the report in response to a motion passed at the November 2019 of Council. He informed Members that, as requested within the motion, the CD (SB) had written to the CEO of EEAST to ask what actions were already being taken to address the issues. It was noted that a response was yet to be received. The DS&GOS informed Members that the motion also requested that the Committee explore the option of creating a Working Group to monitor response times, and engage with EEAST to develop an improvement programme. Finally, the motion requested that the voluntary Community First Responders be offered additional training and support to aid the ambulance service.

Questions and Discussion

The DS&GOS informed Members that he had been in contact with the Scrutiny Team Manager at NCC that managed the Norfolk Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee (NHOSC), and had formed the recommendations of the report by taking into account their existing work on the issue. As a result, the first recommendation was to invite representatives of both the North Norfolk CCG and EEAST to a future Committee meeting to address the concerns raised and provide a briefing. This would allow Members to hear a first-hand account of the issues and the steps that were being taken to resolve them. On the second recommendation, the DS&GOS noted that NHOSC already undertook annual monitoring of response times. He noted that it was likely that their next report could be brought forward, and that there was a possibility that the issue could be reviewed more frequently. On the final recommendation, the DS&GOS noted that he had contacted the representative for the district’s Community First Responders, which had proved useful in identifying what support may be required.

The Chairman noted the comments of the guest speaker and asked whether the Committee would be happy to integrate the requests into the report’s recommendations. Cllr N Pearce stated that this would provide a constructive level of pressure, and he would fully support the approach.

Cllr T Adams stated that there was a need to increase the frequency of NHSOC’s monitoring of ambulance response times, and that Members should also consider taking part in a ride-along or visiting the operations centre for greater insight into the service. He added that the Committee had to be careful not to duplicate the work of NHOSC, and agreed that it would be helpful to invite the relevant representatives  of the NCCG and EEAST to a future meeting. The DS&GOS stated that both ride alongs and a visit to the Ambulance Operations Centre had been offered. The Chairman agreed that the Committee had to be mindful that it did not duplicate the work of NHOSC, though it was important that North Norfolk’s concerns were being represented at their meetings.

Cllr N Housden suggested that response times monitoring should be a learning process, and suggested that the recommendation to NHOSC should request quarterly monitoring reports, that would allow for more reactive changes to be made throughout the year.

Cllr E Spagnola, the NNDC appointed representative on NHOSC, stated that the Committee was next due to review ambulance response times in September. The DS&GOS noted that it had been suggested that this date would be brought forward due to the seriousness of the issue.

Cllr H Blathwayt suggested that A&E waiting times at NNUH must also have a significant impact on ambulance response times, to which the DS&GOS replied that this was indeed the case, with statistics suggesting that A&E turnaround times caused significant delays for ambulances. The Chairman stated that he hoped that these issues could be discussed in detail, if the relevant representatives were able to attend a future meeting.

Cllr W Fredericks proposed that the recommendations be taken en bloc, with the inclusion of comments from the public speaker on post code specific response times monitoring, quarterly reports to NHOSC, and assurances that rapid response vehicles would not be lost. The proposals were seconded Cllr P Heinrich. 

RESOLVED

1.    That the Committee invite representatives of EEAST and the North Norfolk CCG to provide a briefing on the poor performance of ambulance response times in North Norfolk, the efforts being made to address the issue, and assurances that rapid response vehicles will not be lost.

2.    That a formal request is made for NHOSC to increase its ambulance response times monitoring to quarterly, and that the data is reviewed on a post code basis.

3.    That the Committee give consideration to the role of Community First Responders and seek input from the Norfolk & Waveney Patient Representative for EEAST to consider options to support/improve the service.