East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) says it is expanding its Clinical Assessment Hub in a bid to bring down waiting times.
It says it’s due to rising demand and that service’s successes in recent months.
“By directing callers to the most appropriate care, we keep more crews available to respond to immediately life-threatening emergencies,” an EMAS spokesman said. “Our Clinical Assessment Hub, operating across multiple sites and supported by home-based clinicians, play a key role in this.
“They work tirelessly to support patients to get the most appropriate care for their needs. Sometimes, that means guiding them to alternative services such as self-care, community pharmacy, and urgent treatment centre or general practice.
“The process begins with clinical navigation.
“Nurses or paramedics review some 999 calls to decide if an alternative service could be more appropriate.
“This ensures patients receive care faster.”
Paul Jevons (pictured) is a clinical commander. “If a call comes in about a concern for someone’s mental health, I can refer it directly to our Mental Health Practitioner team for a specialised assessment, instead of it waiting for an ambulance response.
“This means the patient is getting the urgent care and support they need faster. They can find out more information about the person to determine next steps.
“Sometimes, when someone calls 999 they may need to go to hospital for further treatment or investigations, but don’t need to go to a busy emergency department.
“I can use the tools we have available to book patients a hospital appointment, instead of signposting them to their GP to make the referral, helping them to get the care they need faster.
“This holistic approach addresses immediate needs while reducing future 999 calls when there is not an immediate risk to life.
“This means I’m not just dealing with calls as they happen, but identifying ways to reduce the volume of calls we receive for incidents where life isn’t on the line.”
- Breaking News
