§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times during the past six months the Mersey 1125W Regional Ambulance Service has been contacted by BT expressing concern about the way in which the service deals with emergency calls. [136789]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonBritish Telecom has contacted the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust once in the last six months to discuss how the trust can improve the handling of emergency calls.
§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many calls the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service(a) failed to answer within two minutes and (b) took more than five minutes to answer in each of the past 12 months. [136790]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe Merseyside Ambulance Control Centre has recently updated its call routing system and therefore information prior to August is not available.
The number of calls with a delay in excess of two minutes is shown in the table.
2003 Number of calls August 195 September 236 October 332 Note
The number of calls has been supplied directly from the Mersey Ambulance Service NHS Trust and is not validated Department of Health data.
Mersey Regional Ambulance Service do not routinely collect data that follows the format of calls that took more than five minutes to answer.
§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken by the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service to develop an education and training strategy as recommended by the Commission for Health Improvement; and if he will place a copy of the strategy in the Library. [138434]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe Mersey Regional Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust has incorporated its training and education strategy into the human resources strategy. This is in line with the national human resources agenda and has received endorsement from the trust's executive team and the human resources committee.
§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken by the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service to improve the patient transport service. [138436]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe Mersey Regional Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust has developed an improvement and modernisation programme in consultation with staff and trade unions for its patient transport service (PTS) operation. The PTS operation is performance managed and progress is reported regularly to the trust board and the performance management committee.
§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what procedures have been put in place by the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service to ensure that all staff are trained in infection control. [138438]
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§ Miss Melanie JohnsonAll staff employed in the emergency and paramedic service at Mersey Regional Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust receive training in infection control as part of their basic training and education. Training in infection control also forms part of the standard induction programme for all operational staff, which includes staff within the patient transport service.
§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of the action plan agreed between the Mersey Regional Ambulance NHS Trust and the central commissioning group for its area. [138449]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe action plan has not yet been agreed by the relevant parties. A copy will be placed in the Library in due course.
§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps have been taken by the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service to ensure that all staff(a) are aware of and (b) act upon their Guidelines for the Management of Infection in the Pre-Hospital Setting. [138711]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 17 November 2003]I am advised by Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority that the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust has a detailed infection control policy. All staff receive copies of the policy and are required to confirm in writing that they have read and understood its content and their responsibilities.
§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps have been taken by the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service Trust(a) to assess the implementation of the Community Paramedic Scheme and to (b) ensure it has the confidence of the public following the publication of the report by the Commission for Health Improvement on the Trust. [138712]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 17 November 2003]I am advised by the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority that, following the report of the Commission for Health Improvement, the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust has introduced a policy together with procedures for "first responders" within the region. The policy has been approved by the trust board.
§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service has taken to implement an action plan for the use of the decontamination unit; and on what date the unit was brought back into use. [138713]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 17 November 2003]I am informed by the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority that the plan for ensuring that the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust has an effective decontamination facility was written in April 2003. The decontamination unit was brought back into use during August 2003.
§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, what procedures have been introduced by the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service Trust for the safe storage and custody of drugs in ambulances following the report on the Trust by the Commission for Health Improvement. [138715]
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§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 17 November 2003]I am advised by the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority that, following the report of the Commission for Health Improvement, the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust's existing procedures were reinforced to ensure consistency of approach for the storage of drugs.
§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps have been taking by the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service to ensure that all patients' report forms are treated as confidential documents. [139070]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe patient report forms used within the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust are stored on ambulances in a safe box, they are not accessible by members of the public. Within the ambulance stations, patient report forms are stored in locked cabinets. Only staff responsible for checking, auditing or completing the patient report forms are able to view them.
§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what procedures have been put in place by the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service to improve access to(a) research literature and (b) the internet at ambulance stations. [139071]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe Mersey Regional Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust has installed computers in all work areas. This allows access to email, the internet and research literature.
§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, what action has been taken by the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service Trust to ensure that all staff are aware of the Trust's whistle-blowing policy; and what training managers have received on the implementation of this policy. [139072]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe Mersey Regional Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust reviewed and amended its existing whistle blowing policy in line with Department of Health guidance in September 2003. Managers were provided with details of the changes and copies of the policy and the associated guidance were issued. All remaining staff at the trust will receive the updated guidance before the end of November 2003.
§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many staff grievances have been lodged with the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service since March 2002. [139073]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe Mersey Regional Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust has received 66 grievances since March 2002.
§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps have been taken by the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service to introduce more effective clinical and monitoring support for paramedics. [139075]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe Mersey Regional Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust has undergone a significant restructuring of the management team. This includes the introduction of clinical managers who supervise and monitor staff and provide effective clinical supervision and support for paramedics.
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§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps have been taken by the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service Trust to ensure that all staff working in the Patient Transport Service receive life support skills training; and how many staff have undergone such training since the last Commission for Health Improvement report on the Trust. [139076]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonAll staff working within the patient transport service at Mersey Regional Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust receive life support training upon commencement of employment. Since April 2003, 33 new starters have undergone the training and 60 staff have undergone refresher training.