To improve the quality of care we provide to
patients we will:
Improve outcomes for patients who are
critically ill or injured
We have seen some major
developments in the quality of care we provide to patients who are
critically ill or injured.
We now take patients suffering
a heart attack to specialist centres where they have primary
angioplasty – a procedure which involves inserting a balloon into
an artery to clear a blockage. This increases the patient’s chances
of survival.
And Londoners who have a cardiac arrest
– when their heart stops beating – are eight times more likely to
survive than 10 years ago as a result of better training for our
staff and life-saving equipment.
More recently we have helped introduce changes
in the health care system to improve care for stroke and trauma
patients.
Patients who are diagnosed with stroke – a type of brain
injury – are now taken to specialist centres where they can receive
quick access to a scan and expert treatment, increasing their
chance of survival and reducing the risk of long-term
disability.
And we take patients who suffer
life-threatening injuries including amputations or gunshot wounds
to one of three major trauma centres in the capital.
The ambulance journey may take longer than to
a local hospital, but by being given the most appropriate care at
these centres, patients will have a much better chance of
survival.
We aim to build on this good work so that our
critically ill and injured patients get the best possible care.
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Provide more appropriate care for patients with less
serious illnesses or injuries
For most of our patients, it is
not a matter of life or death, and many can get better, more
appropriate care somewhere other than at hospital.
People who call us will not automatically
receive an ambulance response, and those who do will not
necessarily be taken to hospital. In our efforts to ensure patients
get the right care for their needs, we may refer these patients to
their local GP or pharmacist. Alternatively we may take or refer
them to an urgent care centre or somewhere similar for treatment.
If patients call us with a minor problem, our specially-trained clinical advisors will provide
medical advice over the phone or may refer them to NHS
Direct for help.
We will work more closely with health and
social care organisations in the capital to ensure that there are
other places people can go to get medical help.
It is also important that our staff have the
right skills to be able to assess patients with less serious
conditions and refer them to the right place for help. We will
continue to focus on delivering the appropriate training for our
clinical telephone advisers and our frontline staff.
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Meet response times routinely
We are currently set a number
of targets which measure how quickly we get to our
patients.
Whilst we expect that there will be a move
away from these types of performance targets to measures that
reflect health outcomes, we know that in the most serious cases,
speed of response is important. We also know that the public
believe our most important role is to reach them quickly if they
need our help*.
We have improved our response times year on
year, and we are now getting to patients faster than ever before.
Whilst these targets remain, our aim is to be able to meet them
routinely. This will be a challenge as demand on our service
continues to rise year on year. The number of calls we receive
increases by six per cent every year, and the number of incidents
we go to rises by three per cent. We will continue to look at ways
to reduce these levels of demand, and encourage the public to
access the appropriate NHS services for their needs.
*Source: Ipsos MORI: Perceptions of the
London Ambulance Service – Research study conducted for London
Ambulance Service, June – July 2006
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Meet other regulatory and performance
targets
We are reviewed by a number of independent
organisations to check whether we are delivering expected levels of
service.
The Care Quality Commission inspects
levels of safety and quality across health and social care, and we
need to register with the Commission so that we can provide our
services. We want to maintain the ratings and registration we
currently have, and we also want to improve our ratings with
the NHS Litigation Authority
(NHSLA) which manages and raises the standards of risk management
across the health service.
We also need to demonstrate that we meet
health and safety requirements and take measures to prevent
health-care associated infection.
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