To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Mrs W.U. Attfield, Mrs E.M. Bew, G.W. Davis, T.M. James, and J.G. Jarvis.

To receive details of any Member nominated to attend the meeting in place of a Member of the Committee.

There were no named substitutes.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on this agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 7th December, 2006.

RESOLVED: that the Minutes of the meeting held on 7th December, 2006 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To consider suggestions from members of the public on issues the Committee could scrutinise in the future.

There were no suggestions from Members of the public.

To receive a presentation on the Trust’s performance and Annual Health Check.

The Committee received presentations on the Trust’s performance and the Annual Health Check.

Presentation by Mr Derek Laird, Locality Manager for Herefordshire and Worcestershire

Mr Laird gave a presentation on the Regional structure, opportunities facing the Trust, operational performance and operational priorities.

In terms of opportunities facing the Trust he reported that:

·         Demand for the ambulance service across the Region was rising by 6%.  In Herefordshire and Worcestershire there was a 9.8% rise.  In Herefordshire itself the rise was 8.6%.

·         A number of patients were being taken to Accident and Emergency Units who could be cared for differently.  It was estimated that some 30-40% of those phoning the service could be better treated by a GP or an Emergency Care Practitioner.  When calls were received at the locality HQ at Bransford triage was being undertaken to avoid taking people to hospital unless necessary.

·         Some problems were being experienced in turnaround time for ambulances at hospitals

·         There was an average wait of 5-6 seconds for 999 calls to be answered

·         Sending a Paramedic did not always reflect patient need and work was being carried out to assess requirements and examine how a better service could be provided.

In terms of performance he highlighted

·          that Standard A8 (responding to 75% of category A (life threatening) calls within 8 Minutes) was generally being met both in the Locality and in Herefordshire.  The performance across the Region was the best in the Country.  There was, however, no complacency and the service did face capacity issues.

·          In relation to A 19 (responding to 95% of Category A calls within 19 minutes) and B 19 and C 19 (responding to non-life threatening calls within 19 minutes) he reported that reaching some areas within the 19 Minute targets was one of the most testing challenges within the Locality, although the Region as a whole was doing well.

·          The response to ensuring that 95% of GP urgent cases should be at their destination within 15 minutes of the time stipulated by the GP had improved significantly since July following a change in Strategy.

·          That in terms of response the Locality was one of the best in the Region.

Key objectives and priorities included

·         Improving quality and consistency of care, developing clinical and outcome indicators with a progressively tighter focus on response times

·         Improving efficiency and effectiveness with effective use of technology and new models of service delivery.  The development of the role of Emergency Care Practitioners and first responder schemes was particularly important in a rural area.

·         Developing an Organisation that was fit for purpose, improving clinical and managerial leadership and developing the organisation structure and style with the aim of reducing management overheads and reallocating resources to frontline services.

·         Supporting performance improvement through establishing consistent measurement across the Country as a whole and service redesign, recognising the needs and demands of patients. Mr Laird gave an example of 5 calls received on a Saturday night in Hereford within 30 Minutes.  Whilst this was a rare occurrence with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 92.