London Ambulance chiefs given frank warning to 'improve or stay in special measures'

Improvements needed: In November the LAS became the first ambulance trust in the country to be placed in special measures.
Getty Images
Ross Lydall @RossLydall6 October 2016

London Ambulance chiefs have been warned they must deliver rapid improvements if the country’s biggest emergency service is to get out of special measures.

They received a frank warning to “pick up the pace” before NHS inspectors return in February to decide whether LAS will remain categorised as a “failing” organisation.

The challenges facing the service, which has been hit by a record number of 999 call-outs, staff shortages and a lack of funding, are shown in a major three-part BBC1 documentary which is being watched by millions.

More than 700 new recruits, including hundreds from Australia, arrived in the past year but bosses were told a failure to manage them properly meant there had not been the desired improvements in response times and morale.

Concerns were also highlighted about a failure to learn from serious incidents, a lack of tracking of medicines and delays in getting ambulances cleaned and repaired.

There was a “paucity” of new technology and mobile devices — with front-line staff wasting time filling in patient forms by hand — and an uneven spread of staff across the 33 boroughs. In August there were 624 occasions when patients were stuck in an ambulance outside A&E for more than an hour because the hospital was too full.

Winter is expected to see pressures worsen, and “radical options” are being drawn up in secret by LAS chiefs in an attempt to cut demand and balance the books.

LAS improvement director Lesley Stephen said it remained “possible” the Care Quality Commission would raise the service’s ranking when it re-inspects but said there were “blockages” to remove in the 18 weeks before inspectors returned.

She said the LAS had to prove that it was safe, well-led and responsive to patient needs, and demonstrate that it was on an “improvement journey”.

Ms Stephen told the LAS board: “If the team can remain focused on these areas and can work at pace, I think the organisation should be able to get out of special measures in February. I think it’s possible but I think it’s challenging — you have got risks.”

LAS chief executive Dr Fionna Moore said there was a “real focus” on continuing to deliver improvements, adding: “There are lots of positives here.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in