Working together to improve our response to patients

Last year, NHS England challenged all ambulance services to reduce C2 response times to 30 minutes on average by the end of 2025, whilst recognising the longer-term aim of achieving the 18-minute target.

Although we consistently reach Category 1 patients faster than any other ambulance service in England, we had some work to do to improve our average response time for our Category 2 patients. Category 2 patients are those in a serious condition, such as stroke or chest pain.

Having worked hard to improve this over the last year, we are now performing better than the national average for our Category 2 performance and remain one of the top performers for all other categories.

Internal improvements:

We have introduced several internal initiatives to improve our performance and reduce ambulance and hospital attendance. This includes:

• A new model rotating paramedics between frontline operational duties and the Emergency Operations Centre, monitoring patients waiting for an ambulance and arranging alternative care or transport where appropriate
• Further segmentation of Category 2 calls to ensure ambulances are prioritise for patients with the greatest need
• Increased clinical revalidation on Category 3 and 4 calls with a view to increasing hear and treat rates, where we treat people over the phone
• An improved process for operational ambulance crews to increase efficiencies, thereby reducing unnecessary downtime and maximising resources on the road

System-wide support:

We want to be the best partner we can be, and have undertaken some additional measures over the winter period to support our healthcare partners across the region, including:

• Replacing the hospital desk with a new Operations Co-ordination Centre (OCC), which oversees patient flow and provides a single point of contact for system partners for any urgent data requests and hospital handover escalations and actions. If you need to escalate a concern to a tactical manager at NEAS, the OCC is available on 0300 030 9001 or via OCC@neas.nhs.uk
• Worked with our region’s hospitals to support a project within emergency departments improve the handover process.
• Opening up our systems to our partners to maximise use of urgent community response (UCR) services 
• Improving our booking process for healthcare professionals

Our performance is already beginning to show signs of improvements, with our crews reaching our Category 2 patients 10 minutes faster on average compared to last year.

However, we can’t work alone. We require support from the whole system to help us achieve the following goals:

• Reduce average handover times at hospitals to 21 minutes
• Reduce demand from healthcare professionals (HCPs) by 25%

Stephen Segasby, chief operating officer, said: “This is about ensuring patients suffering a life, limb or sight threatening emergency receive an ambulance in the timeliest way. No-one wants to see our patients waiting any longer than necessary, and a significant amount of work has gone into getting the patient the right care, in the right time according to need.

“Since the new initiatives were introduced at NEAS, our average response times have reduced, but we know there is more to do to help us achieve the 30-minute target. We also don’t intend on stopping at 30 minutes – we’re committed to delivering all the National Ambulance Quality indicators.

“Wherever you work in our region, we all have a role to play in contributing to the success of this work. Your continued support really is appreciated.”

Further information about ambulance response standards is available on our website here: https://www.neas.nhs.uk/our-services/accident-emergency/ambulance-response-categories.aspx