Like other ambulance trusts across the country, we have put in place a new policy to help reduce the time our ambulance crews wait at hospitals. This is critical to helping our crews get back on the road to respond to other patients in need of help and waiting for a face-to-face assessment.
Unfortunately, sensationalist headlines in some local papers have misleadingly suggested patients will be “dumped” without a handover. Our crews will never “dump and run”. They always support patients as they are passed over to emergency department teams.
Every effort will be made to ensure a full handover within 45 minutes. If in individual circumstances that is not possible our electronic notes are always transferred to the hospital systems and a patient/relative would be left with clear information on how to raise a concern with the hospital team while they are waiting to be seen.
The full statement we provided to Basingstoke Gazette / Andover Advertiser on 10 December 2024:
Tracy Redman, Assistant Director of Operations, at South Central Ambulance Service, said: “We’re committed to providing the best care possible to all our patients, and this new process will help our crews to get back on the road to respond to other patients who are waiting.”
The national standard is for emergency departments to take over the care of patients within 15 minutes of them arriving by ambulance. In November SCAS responded to 52,250 calls through 999. Approximately 50% of those resulted in taking the patient to an emergency department. The average handover time, across all hospitals, was just under 29 minutes, with 3,300 taking longer than 45 minutes.
Tracy added: “Emergency Departments remain under significant pressure, which can result in a delay in patients being handed over. This then leads to a further delay in our crews being available to respond to the next patient.
“The ‘Release to Respond’ initiative is being brought in by ambulance services across the country to improve response times. The aim will continue to be a handover within the initial 15 minutes. Where this is not possible there are a series of points where the ambulance staff will advise the hospital of their intended departure and provide a full clinical handover where possible.
“If the hospital has been unable to take a full clinical handover by the 45-minute limit the ambulance crew will leave the patient in a designated space within the department, having passed on any key concerns to the hospital staff, and advice to the patient / relative about what to do should they become concerned. In all cases an electronic copy of the ambulance patient record is transferred to the hospital.
“Patient safety remains our priority and this new approach will help our crews get to their next patient waiting in the community, so they can start getting the care they need.”