Urgent and Emergency Care: Partnership Working

Health – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 3:15 pm on 7 July 2020.

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Photo of Sinéad Ennis Sinéad Ennis Sinn Féin 3:15, 7 July 2020

10. Ms Ennis asked the Minister of Health what assurance he can give that partnership working with those who use and deliver urgent and emergency care will be central in any reconfiguration of services. (AQO 544/17-22)

Photo of Robin Swann Robin Swann UUP

The principles of partnership working and co-production are at the heart of the ongoing review of urgent and emergency care and will remain so as we emerge from the first wave of COVID-19 to contemplate the long-term model that can best meet the needs of all citizens. The challenges facing our urgent and emergency services are complex, and the root causes are system-wide. Whilst the issues often manifest in the form of busy emergency departments and long delays in admitting patients to hospital, the solutions require a coordinated approach across all of Health and Social Care, one that is led by clinicians and informed by the experiences of those who use the services and their families and carers. That is why my Department initiated a clinical-led review of urgent and emergency care in November 2018 with a remit to examine all the areas that are crucial to the coordinated delivery of unscheduled care, including the care of older people, children and those requiring better and quicker access to mental health services, the role of the Ambulance Service and better coordination across primary, secondary and community care pathways, to ensure that people get the right care in the right place as soon as they need it. Service users and carers have had an important role in shaping the review to date through a co-production work stream that has undertaken research, designed surveys and made valuable recommendations to improve patient pathways and experiences. The work of the review was at an advanced stage prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, and I intend to complete the work and publish the review report later this summer.

In the context of the ongoing pandemic there may also be immediate actions that we require to ensure that our emergency departments (EDs) and hospitals do not reach the levels of overcrowding that we have seen in previous years. In the meantime, I assure the Member that the partnership and co-production approach has been at the core of what has been a transparent and inclusive review to date and will continue to play a central role as we move forward.

Photo of Sinéad Ennis Sinéad Ennis Sinn Féin

Is the Minister aware that, over the past weekend, the entire south Down, Newry and south Armagh area was without any ambulance cover? What does the Minister have to say to my constituents, who are rightly aggrieved by that? Will he urgently address the issue?

Photo of Robin Swann Robin Swann UUP

That was brought to my attention. I think that her party colleague highlighted it in the media. The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service has issued a statement on that, in which it says:

"The normal level of cover in Newry station for Saturday dayshifts is two crews. However, on this occasion, NIAS had arranged an additional crew and the planned cover was enhanced by 50%, with three crews on duty. At the time of this call all three crews were engaged on other emergency calls and the nearest available Emergency Ambulance crew was despatched to the call, arriving at 17:45."

The Ambulance Service apologised for the delay in responding to the call and wants to point that, no matter what was reported on social media about the response time being nearly an hour, it was actually 28 minutes.

NIAS staff are highly committed healthcare professionals who always give of their best, and it is demoralising for them to see inaccurate reports relating to response times and misleading references and inferences about patient conditions on social media. We respectfully ask that anyone, particularly public representatives, contact the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service in the first instance to ascertain the accuracy of response times. While being mindful of maintaining patient confidentiality, NIAS will be happy to engage in a manner that benefits patients and improves our services to local communities. Northern Ireland Ambulance Service is grateful to the staff on the front line and in ambulance control who continue to work tirelessly to ensure that an ambulance response is provided to those who have an immediate and life-threatening need. I place on record my full support for the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service. It is working in challenging and critical times, and I ask Members to be supportive of it rather than critical of it.