North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) is set to outline a decade-long plan for urgent and emergency care at a public-facing meeting in Belmont, Durham.
The ambulance trust has launched a new strategy designed to shape care for the 2.7 million people living across the North East. The plan will be presented at NEAS’s Annual General Meeting at The Durham Centre, Belmont Industrial Estate, Durham, on Thursday 8 October, from 2pm to 4pm.
The event will also give attendees the opportunity to meet teams working on the frontline and behind the scenes, as well as interview chief executive Kevin Scollay. The announcement was issued by NEAS with the press call subject to an embargo until 00.01 on 8 October.
What the strategy aims to change
NEAS says the strategy was developed with staff, patients, carers, communities and partner organisations. It was informed by clinical analysis and forecasts of future demand, with the trust examining how health needs across the region are likely to change over the next decade.
The work identified an ageing population, increasing numbers of people living with long-term conditions, rising demand for mental health support and continuing health inequalities as major challenges.
NEAS is responsible for all NHS 111 and 999 calls across the North East. Its stated aim is to maintain rapid emergency responses while giving more people access to treatment, advice and support closer to home.
The strategy has four long-term priorities:
- Delivering outstanding care and quality
- Creating a great place to work
- Providing reliable and responsive services
- Strengthening partnership and system leadership
More specialist care outside hospital
A new Clinical Operating Model will bring together expertise from health and care services to help patients access the right care first time. Planned developments include greater use of specialist clinical teams, closer links with community and mental health services, improved digital technology and enhanced clinical assessment.
NEAS says the changes could allow more patients to receive care without a hospital visit, while rapid responses to life-threatening emergencies continue.
The trust’s analysis identified respiratory disease, cardiac conditions, stroke, gastrointestinal illness and mental health crisis care as the five clinical areas expected to have the greatest effect on future demand and patient outcomes.
Scollay said the strategy reflected changing healthcare needs and feedback from people who wanted excellent emergency care, faster access to appropriate support, better communication and more treatment delivered closer to home.
NEAS answered more than 1.475 million NHS 111 and 999 calls and responded to more than 40,000 life-threatening emergency incidents across the North East during the last year, according to the trust.
Chair Stuart Corbridge said the strategy had been shaped by service users, staff and partner organisations. NEAS said the full strategy would be made available on its website.