Agenda item

James Johnson, Associate Director of Operations?, London Ambulance Service introduced the presentation and summarised key points.

The following main points were noted in the discussion:

• The Committee noted that only 50% of patients who ring 999 get an ambulance and attend them.
• The London Ambulance Service (LAS) had been working to increase the availability of pathways, such as the Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) systems. Under the SDEC Trusted Assessor pathway model, ambulance clinicians were empowered to assess the patients in the communities and be able to convey patients meeting the criteria directly to the SDEC without a prior phone call with hospital clinicians. This was set to reduce the pressure on the emergency departments and improved the clinical relationship between LAS and alternative clinical pathways.
• LAS was set to introduce SDEC Trusted Assessor pathway at the Whittington Hospital in January 2025, with a view to consider a possibility of extending to other hospitals in future.
• The London Lifesaver project was introduced where life-saving CPR and defibrillator training was provided for communities, organisations and schools.
• The London Heart Starters campaign used a data-driven approach to identify defibrillator deserts, which were small communities across the capital that had little to no defibrillators available to help save the life of someone having a cardiac arrest. LAS had been working to ensure that there were additional public-access defibrillators available in areas where they were needed the most.
• The Committee was informed that the service had six mental health cars along with ten community cars, providing tailored patient care for mental health patients, elderly and frail patients across London. This was a new concept which was under trial and data was being gathered to see if this was beneficial and to improve mental health care. It was added that in October 2024, Islington was one of the first areas where LAS was pioneering mental health ambulances to provide more dedicated and focused care to the local community.
• In response to a follow up question, members were told that there were also urgent crisis response cars which were available, where a rapid response nurse and a paramedic would be able to attend the most fragile patients.
• In terms of priorities, it was advised that some of the main priorities was around prevention, early CPR and early use of a defibrillator. It was highlighted that LAS had to prioritise both high acuity and low acuity cases. People were also advised to sign up for the GoodSAM application, where the LAS service had access to a system on the application where they would be alerted of a cardiac arrest.
• The Integrated Care Coordination was also a priority. Nationally the Integrated Care Coordination had been introduced in patches and was different in each location. It was noted that this service was not available in London yet, however, there were clinical hubs available for people to access across London.
• The Committee noted that there was also priority around mental health and making sure that attendance assessment conveyance of mental health patients was appropriate for their needs and ensuring that referrals were completed according.
• In terms of CPR training, this was provided in schools and information was also available online. The service also provided pop-up sessions at the main hubs in London. People were able to register their interest for the training and were encouraged to attend workshops.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee to note the report.