Lincolnshire ambulance service scraps super hub plans

East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) has scrapped the Being the Best super hub plans at a Trust Board meeting on Tuesday, October 28.

As previously reported, plans to replace a number of ambulance stations in favour of large ambulance super hubs and a number of community stations were put on pause in March.

This was so EMAS could have some time to focus and improve patient care first.

At the board meeting to decide whether the proposals should continue or focus on a new strategy completely, it was decided the Being the Best plans should be scrapped.

Now, while a number of Community Ambulance Stations will still be introduced in the region, the Trust Board will begin to develop a new strategy, reviewing its existing estate.

The new strategy will be completed in time for a final Estates Strategy at the March 2015 Board meeting.

The Being the best plans would see crews start their shift at super hubs to collect a fully-equipped vehicle, plus a base for clinical and support staff.

Community Ambulance Stations are premises which allow staff to have rest breaks and refreshments in between responding to calls, rather than parking on the roadside.

These can also be shared with other services, such as Fire & Rescue or police.

The plans aim to improve the response times of the ambulance service, but they were heavily scrutinised by the County Council.

Lincolnshire County Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee described the plans as “flawed“.

The proposals were then sent to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) for initial assessment, but no further action was taken.

Sue Noyes, EMAS Chief Executive said: “East Midlands Ambulance Service is a mobile healthcare provider – we treat our patients at the scene of an incident, in our emergency vehicles as we take them to hospital, or over the phone via our Clinical Assessment Team.

“Our Clinical & Quality, Fleet, Information Management & Technology, and Estates strategies which we reviewed at our meeting today dovetail with our ‘Better Patient Care’ improvement plan and will support us to deliver our vision for delivering the right care, with the right resource, in the right place, at the right time.

“Since pausing our estates plans in October 2013, we have talked with and listened to our staff colleagues, the public, our patients, and stakeholders across the East Midlands.

“We will continue to do this as we develop all of our strategies over the next few months to make sure they make sense for the future. Being part of the communities we serve is very important to us.”