It was great to visit the South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) northern headquarters in Bicester earlier this month. Serving a residential population of over seven million people stretching from Banbury to Brighton, SCAS play such an important role in helping patients get the right care at the right time.
I was able to meet SCAS’ new Chief Executive David Eltringham for the first time and toured the Patient Transport Service, 111 and 999 Control Centres where I saw first-hand the brilliant work carried out by the teams.
Although the service has been under immense pressure this summer with response times having crept above the 30-minute target, David assured me that SCAS have had an operational recovery plan firmly in place to address the challenges facing them.
It was really useful to learn more about David’s positive vision for the service. He has many ideas for further improvement to SCAS, including working on achieving closer integration with other health services. I was reassured to hear that good progress has already been made on tackling the issues identified by the Care Quality Commission last year. As a nurse by background, it is clear to me just how focused David is on providing the best care to patients.
SCAS have a volunteer team of 1200 strong but are always looking for more. If you are interested in volunteering click here.
