Sheilah Finnegan, Chief Operating Officer, said: “I would like to clarify Cllr
Tony Dawson’s statement that ‘Southport hospital was marginally the worst
performer in the region’ in relation to ambulance turnaround times.

“The figures presented to Sefton council overview and scrutiny committee on
5 March related to four acute trusts in Merseyside, not the North West of
England.

“North West Ambulance Service recorded the following average turnround
figures at Accident and Emergency departments between January 2012 and
February 2013: Southport and Ormskirk (33.5 minutes), Aintree (30.01
minutes), the Royal Liverpool (28.3 minutes) and Alder Hey (23.33 minutes).

“Clearly, there is room for us to improve our performance but these figures
need to be seen in the context of recent unprecedented demand for A&E
services at the Trust.

“For example, in December, there was a 35% increase in ambulance
attendances at our A&E department in Southport. During the Christmas and
New Year weeks alone, 248 more patients than expected were brought in by
ambulance to A&E of whom 99 were admitted. This inevitably affected some
ambulance turnaround times.

“The Trust is working with the ambulance service to better understand the
scale of the activity we face, especially in respect of where ambulances are
sent during busy periods.

“We are also establishing a project team to improve handovers between A&E
and ambulance staff, and will be involving the ambulance service.

“For the time-being they have agreed to fund a short-term post to support the
handover process.”

When my wife needed an ambulance,as she had breathing difficulties,the response paramedic arrived about 5 minutes after calling,and when he examined my wife,he recommended her to be transfered to the Southport General District Hospital,the ambulance arrived after about 20 minutes,as they were very busy at the time of calling.
So within 30 minutes of calling for the Ambulance the wife was being taken to hospital,which is LESS than those figures show above.I cannot fault the service at all,and if all people respected the service,and not abuse it,these figures could,and should be LOWER than they are.

Respect to all Response Paramedics and Ambulance Services Personnel,also the Medical team at SDGH. as you probably saved my wifes life,with the response times and treatment.

Originally Posted by jonnybgood

So within 30 minutes of calling for the Ambulance the wife was being taken to hospital,which is LESS than those figures show above.

The above times are clearly stated to be averages, so that means that some will less and some will be more.

The good news is that the NHS' Chief Operating Officer, acknowledges that "clearly, there is room for us to improve our performance."

I do very much agree with your comment that "if all people respected the service, and not abuse it, these figures could, and should be LOWER than they are."

I may be wrong, but I read this as the turn-around time once the ambulance had arrived at the hospital.... ie the time if takes to get back on the road (and en route to the next job) after dropping off the patient. The ambulance crews have to wait until the hospital staff are ready to accept the patient, and that's where the 30 minute wait comes!

Cllr Dawson should enquire about handover times in busy winter periods when there are lots of accidents. I have personal experience of handover times on icy days being more than two hours. I have seen six or seven ambulance crews waiting in A&E for that length of time and unable to respond promptly to accidents on the streets. Ambulance crew union reps have said in the past that they think Southport is the worst in the region in that respect. I argued with the Trust for a change in the triage system some years ago but got nowhere. It is good to see that they are now establishing a project team to try and improve matters. Cllr Dawson keep a careful eye on this please.

Originally Posted by tarantula

Cllr Dawson keep a careful eye on this please.

Cllr Dawson will only keep an eye on things he can blame Labour for, actually looking at what the current administration is creating is a no go area, unless of course he can pass the buck to the hospital.