Doctors and nurses join ambulance crews on the road to end delays for patients

Doctors, nurses and other health and social care professionals have jumped on board ambulances to bring new eyes to the fight to end delays for patients.

The medical teams joined colleagues at East of England Ambulance Service Trust as they carried out their work to better understand the issues behind delays for patients – and help identify ways to resolve them.

As part of work to reduce delays across Mid and South Essex, EEAST chief executive officer Tom Abell invited healthcare professionals to join EEAST team members on clinical shifts.

There, they could see how barriers at each part of a patients’ journey – from the ambulance call, to getting into A&E and through to diagnosis and treatment – contributed to delays.

The new approach means ambulance crews, hospital liaison officers in emergency departments, and dispatch and clinical teams at the ambulance control centre at Chelmsford teamed up with senior nurses, accident and emergency consultants, and directors of nursing this week.

EEAST CEO Tom Abell said:

“We want to do everything we can to end delays for patients and speed up the handover from ambulance to being treated in hospitals – because every minute matters for our patients. We’re working closely with our hospitals to do this, but we wanted to throw the ambulance doors open and ask nurses, doctors and consultants to join our colleagues and see if they can help identify new solutions.”

Melissa Dowdeswell, director of nursing, clinical quality and improvement at EEAST, said:

“It’s been great to see how many of our colleagues across the healthcare system are keen to take part in this exercise to try to end delays for our patients. We are aiming to review the really tough problems we face, hopefully come up with some solutions, and build better relationships with colleagues across the area.”

Catherine Morgan OBE, regional chief nurse for the East of England, said:  

“I am very much looking forward to participating in the improvement week, gaining a better understanding of the challenges faced and hearing about potential solutions from a wide range of clinical teams. This is a really positive way to achieve our ambition to provide the best timely care for people in our region.”