The Ambulance Service management team wanted to make a small gesture to their staff to say ‘thank you’ after another challenging year which has seen them yet again achieve all of their key performance targets and also come top of the league in the national staff survey.
Performance figures for the 2013 -2014 year show that the Service received over 23,000 emergency calls with ambulances reaching 80% in the life threatening calls (Red 1) and 76.40% (Red 2) of the most seriously ill and injured patients within 8 minutes and 96.75% within 19 minutes (the national response standards are 75% and 95% respectively). The service met this target for every month of the year.
The NHS 111, which is also delivered by the Isle of Wight Ambulance Service, continues to deliver some of the best care in the country in meeting or exceeding all of our performance targets despite receiving over 55,500 calls, an increase of over 12% from last year and receiving national recognition for its ability to provide the service to a high quality standard.
The Ambulance Service Management team choose to say their ‘thank you’ by commissioning two celebratory cakes from Paul Tomlinson, a Clinical Adviser working in the Integrated Care Hub, who is becoming a bit of a master baker!
Chris Smith, Head of Ambulance Service and the Integrated Care Hub said:
“Despite some significant challenges during the last year, we have achieved these standards. This is a team effort involving Call Handlers, Dispatchers, Clinical Support Desk, Operational Paramedics & Emergency Vehicle Operatives, Clinical Support Officers, Performance Support Officers, as well as those who support the smooth running of the Service, including Fleet Management, Stockers & Washers, Administration, Resourcing and Stores. This is a fully dedicated team whose main focus is providing a high quality of care when and where it’s needed.
“This has truly been a whole team effort driven by our staff’s commitment to deliver the best service they can to the people of our island and our visitors. Their efforts have again proved that we have a first class service. One that we should all be rightly proud of. We are committed to making further improvements and are doing all that we can to enhance patient care further.On behalf of the management team we would like to express our sincere thanks to our fantastic staff for your hard work, dedication and commitment to ensuring these standards are achieved, thereby ensuring those patients most in need receive a timely response.”
Each cake depicts the Isle of Wight with the Service crest in the middle; one is surrounded by a telephone headset and is for ambulance staff in the Integrated Care Hub, and the other has a stethoscope around the crest for the operational and support staff.
The cakes will be cut up and boxed and offered to staff as a gesture of gratitude from the senior ambulance management team. The idea for the cakes, which were paid for personally by the Ambulance Service managers, came from Shaun Carter, Assistant Head of Ambulance (operations).
