Welsh Ambulance Service scoops double award for partnership work on frequent callers
Monday, 26 September, 2016
Staff from the Welsh Ambulance Service and Cardiff and Vale University Health Board are presented with an award in recognition of their work on frequent flyers at the NHS Wales Awards in Cardiff.
THE WELSH Ambulance Service is celebrating after winning two NHS Wales Awards in partnership with Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.
The collaboration between health, third sector, local authority and other agencies to reduce demand on emergency services won the Working Seamlessly Across Organisations Award (supported by Welsh NHS Confederation).
The project was also named winner of the Outstanding Contribution to Prudent Healthcare Award presented by the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Frank Atherton.
It focusses on both frequent 999 callers and those who regularly attend unscheduled care services, including the Emergency Unit at University Hospital of Wales and the GP Out of Hours Service, in order to establish any unmet care needs they might have.
Data is shared on those who use the organisations involved more than five times in a month.
Once it has been collated, a multi-agency group meets to identify and provide support to them, which could involve providing increased care packages, or community support via third sector or voluntary agencies.
Robin Petterson, the Welsh Ambulance Service’s Frequent Caller Lead, said: “It has been the culmination of three years of hard work and collaboration with Cardiff & Vale University Health Board and other important agencies involved with this project in seeking patient-centred solutions.
“It's is a wonderful achievement that this work has also been acknowledged for its outstanding contribution to prudent healthcare.
“This work not only sought patient-centred solutions, but we can now see real evidence in the data that suggests that more ambulance time is being made available through this collaborative work for our other service users.”
Anna Sussex, Frequent Attenders Case Load Manager at Cardiff and Vale UHB, said: “We are incredibly proud that this project has won an NHS Wales Award.
“It is a tribute to the enthusiasm and dedication of partners across health, third sector, local authority and other agencies that we have been able to reduce demand on emergency services whilst supporting extremely vulnerable patients.”
Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport, Vaughan Gething, who attended the ceremony in Cardiff on Friday, said: “The winners and nominees have made changes to improve the services they provide – but I know that across the NHS, other organisations will be taking notice of what they have achieved and seeing how they too can make improvements.
“These awards allow us to celebrate fantastic care and dedicated NHS staff and their partners, making a real difference for citizens across Wales every day. I want to congratulate everyone who was nominated for their commitment to improving quality in our NHS.”
The NHS Wales Awards are organised by 1000 Lives Improvement, the national improvement service for NHS Wales delivered by Public Health Wales.
The awards were launched in 2008 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the NHS and recognise and promote good practice across Wales.
167 entries were received from organisations, revealing a high standard of innovative and diverse work that is transforming patient care.
To read more about all of the winners visit www.nhswalesawards.wales.nhs.uk
