East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) in Lincolnshire
Scheme
Who?
EMAS provides emergency 999 care and telephone clinical assessment services for a population of 4.8m people. The service employs more than 3,920 staff and has over 70 facilities including ambulance stations, two emergency operations centres (Nottingham
What
EMAS in Lincolnshire has been working with strategic partners, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and GP practices to develop different ways of working with the aim of reducing the number of journeys to emergency departments (EDs), while
Why?
There is a particular need to reduce journeys to EDs because:
- Lincolnshire is a large rural county with only two acute hospitals, meaning that ambulance journeys can be long and time-consuming
When?
The transformation of EMAS in Lincolnshire began in September 2018.
How?
Transformation priorities and initiatives include:
- Active ambulance handover – local managers working with ED staff to support them at times of acute demand in the system.
Challenges
- Working collaboratively with other organisations. EMAS can and does play a major role in helping them to achieve their goals around transforming services.
- Managing to get engagement with system partners as well as the daily EMAS objectives.
Impact
- From April 2018 to February 2019 SPs discharged 495 patients on-scene because they could be assessed as not requiring hospital admission.
- The rotating paramedic pilot team was the winner of the Lincolnshire Health Awards – Clinical Team of the Year.
Case study
Daisy is an 87-year-old woman living in a small rural village in Lincolnshire with her husband Jack. She has a number of health conditions and needs help with daily activities from her husband. Jack worries a lot about Daisy, but looks after her well.