East Midlands Ambulance Service getting ready for winter with new ambulances, more frontline staff and additional control room support

Ambulance service are preparing for winter with brand new ambulances, additional 999 call handlers and welfare vehicles for frontline crews.

The winter months are traditionally one of the busiest times of year for the NHS due to increases in flu cases and cold weather-related illnesses such as trips and falls.

For the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) it can also become more challenging to reach patients in need due to adverse weather and poor road conditions.

Divisional director for Nottinghamshire Greg Cox explained that patients and staff are the two main focusses for the county in the coming winter months.

He said: “This winter it is more important than ever that we work with our NHS system partners to ensure we are able to provide the best care possible to the patients who really need us, as well as looking after our staff during this period of increased demand.

“This includes working with both our senior EMAS clinicians and healthcare colleagues so that only patients who genuinely need an ambulance receive one, and also working daily with our NHS system partners to reduce hospital handover delays.

“As Nottingham is the largest city in the East Midlands and a favourite location for revellers to visit during the festive period, we are also working with our police and St John Ambulance colleagues to ensure we have additional medical support on key dates to reduce any additional pressure on our NHS services.”

The public are also being asked to play their part in reducing demand by practising self-care and using services such as local pharmacies, GP surgeries, NHS111 online or urgent treatment centres for medical issues — only calling for an ambulance in life-threatening emergencies, so that they stay available for people most in need.

Key Nottinghamshire-specific projects this winter include:

• Working with St John Ambulance on their bespoke vehicle to support with the increased night time economy in Nottingham city centre throughout the festive period.
• Exploring joint responding with Nottinghamshire Police in the city centre.
• Agreed escalation processes now in place with system partners such as the hospitals and local mental health providers.
• Providing two welfare vehicles for staff — one based at Queen’s Medical Centre and the other at King’s Mill Hospital.
• Assigning colleagues to emergency departments during periods of intense pressure, to allow ambulance crews to return to patient response in the community and supporting staff with finishing long shifts on time.
• Working to ensure every staff member has some respite over the festive period and developing winter rotas to support a better work/life balance.

Elsewhere, across all parts of the organisation, further steps have been taken to prepare for the busy winter months, including:

• Rolling out 110 brand new, high-spec ambulances across EMAS to replace older vehicles.
• New frontline ambulance crews have been recruited and trained throughout the year — Newly Qualified Paramedics, Newly Qualified Technicians and Ambulance Support Crews — to maximise the number of ambulance crews available to respond.
• Recruitment of additional 999 call handlers has also continued throughout the year, with an expected workforce of 210 by Christmas — an increase of 60 call handlers.
• EMAS control rooms continue to have the best response times in the country, with an average call pick-up rate of just 7 seconds.
• Continued recruitment of additional Specialist Practitioners in order to support with senior clinical triage of patients both in person and over the phone.
• GP and Air Ambulance doctors wil take shifts in control rooms to provide support to frontline ambulance crews when they need a second opinion about their patient may have a complex but not immediately life-threatening medical issue.
• From early December, staff welfare vehicles will be stationed at hospital emergency departments across the region to help ensure the wellbeing of ambulance crews — offering hot drinks and a safe place to take break during a shift.
• New processes to help staff finish on time are also being piloted as well as offering a wide range of health and wellbeing services should staff need to access them.
• During periods of intense demand, EMAS will also receive additional support from local private ambulance service providers.