South Western Ambulance Service

The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) is the organisation responsible for providing ambulance services for the National Health Service (NHS) across South West England. It serves the council areas of Bath and North East Somerset, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, Plymouth, Isles of Scilly, Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, Torbay and Wiltshire.[4]

South Western Ambulance Service
NHS Foundation Trust
SWASFT
TypeNHS foundation trust
Established1 July 2006 (Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset)
1 February 2013 (merged with Great Western Ambulance Service)
HeadquartersExeter
Region servedBath and North East Somerset, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, Plymouth, Isles of Scilly, Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, Torbay and Wiltshire
NHS regionNHS England
Area size10,000 square miles (26,000 km2)[1]
Population5.5 million (2018)[1]
Establishments96 Ambulance Stations
Budget£227.6 million (planned, 2018–19)[1]
ChairGail Bragg (Interim) [2]
Chief executiveWill Warrender[3]
Websitewww.swast.nhs.uk

On 1 March 2011, SWASFT was the first ambulance service in the country to become a NHS foundation trust. On 1 February 2013, the former Great Western Ambulance Service merged with the trust.[5]

SWASFT serves a population of more than 5.5 million,[1] and its area is estimated to receive an influx of over 17.5 million visitors each year. The operational area is predominantly rural but also has large urban centres including Bristol, Plymouth, Exeter, Truro, Bath, Swindon, Gloucester, Bournemouth and Poole.[6]

The service is headquartered in Exeter, Devon. It has 96 ambulance stations and six charity-operated air ambulance bases within its area. The chief executive is Will Warrender.[3]

The trust's core operations include:[7][6]

  • Emergency ambulance 999 services
  • Urgent Care Services (UCS) – GP out-of-hours medical care (Dorset)
  • Tiverton Urgent Care Centre.
The Star of Life ambulance boat serves the Scilly Isles

It is one of the ambulance trusts providing England with emergency medical services, and employs around 4,500 mainly clinical and operational staff (including Paramedics, Emergency Care Practitioners, Advanced Technicians, Emergency Care Assistants, Ambulance Care Assistants and Nurse Practitioners).[1] In addition there are around 3,200 volunteers including community first responders, BASICS doctors, fire service co-responders and patient transport drivers.

Facts and figures

The trust covers an area of 10,000 square miles (26,000 km2).[1] There are 95 ambulance stations,[8] six air ambulance bases delivered by five charities,[9] two control rooms, two Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) bases and one boat across the SWASFT operational area.[10]

In 2017/2018, approximately one in nine 999 calls to SWASFT were treated over the telephone. "Hear and treat", where the patient receives clinical advice over the telephone, accounted for 11.6% of calls. For 35.8% of incidents the patients experienced "see and treat", when the patient receives treatment or advice at the scene of the incident. In a further 5.9% of incidents, the patient was taken to a non-emergency hospital department such as a community hospital or minor injuries unit. The remaining incidents resulted in a patient being taken to a hospital emergency department, thus around half of the incidents (53%) resulted in a patient not being conveyed.[1]

In 2017, SWASFT was the best performing ambulance service in the country for non-conveyance rates. In addition approximately 62% of patients taken to hospital were admitted – this is again the highest (best) performance for an ambulance trust in the country. This means that when SWASFT takes a patient to an emergency department they are likely to be admitted, not simply treated and discharged, confirming that this is the right place for them to receive the care they need.[11]

The number of compliments received by the trust in 2014/2015 increased by 41% to 2,055 while complaints also rose by 20% to 1,268.[12]

The inspection of the trust by the Care Quality Commission in 2016 identified several areas which required improvement.[13]

The trust's income for 2017/18 was £240 million.[1] In 2018, the trust said it would need an extra £12M a year to meet the new ambulance performance standards.[14]

CQC performance rating

In its last inspection of the service in June 2018, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) gave the following ratings on a scale of outstanding (the service is performing exceptionally well), good (the service is performing well and meeting our expectations), requires improvement (the service isn't performing as well as it should) and inadequate (the service is performing badly):

Inspection Reports
Area2016 Rating[15]2018 Rating[16]
Are services Safe?Requires improvementRequires improvement
Are services Effective?Requires improvementGood
Are services Caring?OutstandingOutstanding
Are services Responsive?GoodGood
Are services Well-led?Requires improvementGood
Overall ratingRequires improvementGood

Structure

SWASFT has two emergency control centres which take emergency calls and dispatch resources: one within the Exeter headquarters and the other at Filton, north of Bristol.[17] As of 2018, the centres had a combined staff of around 450.[1]

After a reorganisation in 2018, the trust's operations and ambulance stations are divided into eight areas.[8]

  • Bristol, North Somerset & South Gloucestershire
  • Cornwall & Isles of Scilly
  • North & East Devon
  • South & West Devon
  • Dorset
  • Gloucestershire
  • Somerset
  • Wiltshire

Air ambulances

From its control centre, SWASFT is able to deploy a number of charity-funded air ambulance services that operate within its area:

Vehicle fleet
SWAST ambulance on an emergency call

The SWASFT vehicle fleet includes

  • emergency ambulances
  • patient transport ambulances
  • rapid response vehicles
  • rapid response motorcycles
  • bicycles
  • hazardous area response teams (based in Exeter and Bristol)
  • ALN 043 Star of Life Wave Saver 1000 Class ambulance boat

Tiverton Urgent Care Centre

In May 2014, the trust won a contract to run a doctor-led minor injuries unit at Tiverton and District Hospital, Devon. Patients do not need an appointment to visit the centre, which is open seven days a week and provides treatment for minor injuries and ailments.[18]

Former services

SWASFT ran the NHS 111 non-emergency phone service for Dorset, from a call centre at St Leonards. In 2016, the Care Quality Commission told SWASFT to make significant improvements in the service.[19] In July 2019, the trust announced that it was handing back the contract for the service, owing to staff shortages,[20] and on 1 May 2020, the 111 service transferred to Dorset HealthCare.[21]

See also

References
  1. "Inspection report" (PDF). Care Quality Commission. September 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  2. "Welcome to SWASFT -".
  3. "South Western Ambulance Service Trust Welcomes new CEO Will Warrender". South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  4. "What we do". South Western Ambulance Service. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  5. "Single trust formed after South West ambulance merger". BBC News. February 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  6. "About Us". South Western Ambulance Trust. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  7. "South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust". NHS Choices. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  8. "County Map" (PDF). Information Governance, South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust. 16 April 2019.
  9. "Welcome to SWASFT - Accident and Emergency". www.swast.nhs.uk. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  10. "South Western Ambulance Service". Ambulance Research. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  11. "South Western Ambulance Service" (PDF). South Western Ambulance Service. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  12. "SWASFT Annual Report" (PDF).
  13. "South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust Quality Report 2016" (PDF). Care Quality Commission. 6 October 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  14. "Ambulance trusts demand millions to meet new targets". Health Service Journal. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  15. "South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust: Quality Report". Care Quality Commission. 6 November 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  16. "Provider: South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust". Care Quality Commission. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  17. "Clinical Hubs". SWASFT. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  18. "Tiverton Urgent Care Centre". SWAST. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  19. "CQC warns South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust about safety of NHS 111 service". Care Quality Commission. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  20. "Ambulance service gives up 111 contract". BBC News: England. 11 July 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  21. "Dedicated NHS 111 staff join Dorset HealthCare". Dorset HealthCare. 1 May 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
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