Hunt is on for image for new dementia-friendly ambulances
Last year, North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) embarked on a major re-design of its vehicles – a first for the country – in order to improve its service for disabled patients, including people with sight and hearing impairments and people living with dementia.
In all, 44 emergency ambulances and 43 patient transport vehicles are in the process of being adapted to make them more accessible.
Among the changes are a new look interior, an improved colour scheme, flooring, seat colours, better signs and handrails. The colour contrast between the walls, floor and cabinets has also been changed to improve access for patients.
As part of this re-design, the service is now looking to include new imagery on the inside of the emergency ambulances to help reduce anxiety which can sometimes be faced by patients living with dementia.
And it is calling on local photographers and artists to send in their images for consideration.
Images should include a generic scene or scene within the North East which doesn’t include identifiable landmarks as this can be disorientating for people living with dementia.
Submissions should be sent to publicrelations@neas.nhs.uk by Friday, 31 January.
NEAS Chief Executive, Helen Ray, said: “Travelling in an ambulance, and the circumstances surrounding the need for an ambulance, can be a traumatic experience for patients, and can be particularly unsettling for patients living with dementia.
“As we strive to make a difference to every patient whose life we touch within our region, this is just a small way that we can try and further improve on the care we are able to provide.
“Similar imagery has already been used by two other ambulance services and we know from their feedback that the images help to aid conversation with staff, which can in turn help make the environment more relaxing for the patient and therefore reduce anxiety.
“We would like pictures from all seasons featuring multiple points of interest, for example a landscape, trees, a pond, wildlife, a vehicle, and people undertaking activities such as walking or running. The more points of interest are included in the image, the more opportunities our staff will have to strike up conversation.”
Notes to editors
For more information, contact the NEAS press office on 07559 918672 or email publicrelations@neas.nhs.uk
About the North East Ambulance Service
North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (NEAS) covers 3,200 square miles across the North East region. It employs more than 2,600 staff and serves a population of 2.7 million people by handling all NHS111 and 999 calls for the region, operating patient transport and ambulance response services, delivering training for communities and commercial audiences and providing medical support cover at events.
In 2018/19 we answered more than 1.4m emergency 999 and NHS 111 calls, with almost 290,000 patients taken to hospital, 21,500 treated and discharged over the phone and more than 100,000 treated and discharged at home. Almost 76,000 emergency incidents were reached within seven minutes and more than 570,000 Patient Transport Service journeys were made. Over the year we responded to almost 6,000 road traffic incidents. 6,300 people were trained in CPR and defibrillator awareness and 167 new community defibrillators were registered.