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Northern Ireland Ambulance Service

April 27, 2024

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS, Irish: Seirbhís Otharchairr Thuaisceart Éireann) is an ambulance service that serves the whole of Northern Ireland, approximately 1.9 million people. As with other ambulance services in the United Kingdom, it does not charge its patients directly for its services, but instead receives funding through general taxation. It responds to medical emergencies in Northern Ireland with the 300-plus ambulance vehicles at its disposal. Its fleet includes mini-buses, ambulance officers' cars, support vehicles, RRVs and accident and emergency ambulances.

Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Health and Social Care Trust
Established1 April 1995
HeadquartersBelfast[1]
Region servedNorthern Ireland
Area size5,345 square miles (13,840 km2)
Population1.9 million
Establishments46 stations and deployment points
ChairMichele Larmour [2]
Chief executiveMichael Bloomfield [3]
Staff1,300 (2018/19)[4]
Websitenias.hscni.net

History edit

NIAS was formed on 1 April 1995 through the amalgamation of its four predecessors. Its full title is the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Health and Social Care Trust.

The service is split up into five operational areas:

  • Belfast Area
  • South Eastern Area
  • Western Area
  • Northern Area
  • Southern Area
 
Ambulance in Ann Street, Belfast, October 2009

Services edit

The service employs approximately 1,300 staff of which approximately 420 are paramedics, 300 are emergency medical technicians (EMT) and 100 are control centre staff, which work shift patterns to ensure the service is operational 24/7. They are based across 46 stations and sub-stations, two control centres (emergency and non-emergency) and a regional ambulance training centre. It responds to approximately 201,000 emergency (999) calls per year (with the number of 999 calls is increasing per year) with a combination of traditional emergency ambulances with two crew members, and rapid response vehicles (RRV) crewed by a single paramedic. RRVs respond mostly to calls where there is a potential immediate life-threat (Category 1) because they can respond more quickly than a conventional ambulance, RRVs can also be used to respond to lower category of calls that may not require hospital care.[5] Double-crew ambulances respond to both emergency and non-emergency (healthcare professional-initiated urgent) calls as well as providing critical-care transfers between hospitals. The Trust aims to provide at least one paramedic to every emergency call by staffing each double-crew emergency ambulance with two paramedics, or a paramedic and an EMT, and utilising RRV. The trust has not adopted the controversial use of emergency care assistants (ECA) in the way some other UK ambulance services have.

In addition to the emergency medical services, NIAS has a fleet of Patient Care Service vehicles which are used for more routine patient transport to/from hospital. Within the Patient Care Service there are both single-crewed 'sitting case' (minibus) vehicles as well as double-crewed 'intermediate care vehicles' (ICV) which carry a stretcher.

In 2019, the service entered a partnership with the Ulster University to deliver a foundation degree in Paramedic Science, with the first cohort of trainees graduating in December 2019 and the final 'fourth' cohort graduating in January 2023. Future cohorts are now managed directly by Ulster University with the BSc honours degree commencing in September 2021.

In 2016, NIAS was commissioned to provide a helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) for the first time in Northern Ireland, which was by then the only region of the UK not to have one. Following a public consultation, they partnered with the charity Air Ambulance Northern Ireland who provide the aircraft and airbase, with the doctors and paramedics provided by NIAS. The service undertook its first live mission in August 2017.

Performance edit

NIAS triages all emergency calls using an internationally recognised system of prioritisation. Currently it has a target time of eight minutes to reach the scene of the highest priority calls i.e. those deemed to represent an immediate risk to life, but during December 2017 only 47.5% of this target was met therefore the average response time in Northern Ireland was 16 minutes 10 seconds.[6] Currently the trust works with volunteer and private ambulance services to help cope and meet key response times, this is a result of the current increased demand due to an aging population and the squeeze on public spending across Northern Ireland over the last decade.[7][8] Staff have expressed concern by the growing pressures they face and overall low morale across the service.[9] The ambulance service aims to restructure their service to cope with future increased demand.

In September 2018, the ambulance service requested an additional £30 million in funding from the Department of Health to restructure the service and to recruit an additional 300 staff members, most of whom would be Paramedics, EMTs and emergency call takers. This recruitment is meant to quicken response times and relieve pressure on staff.[10] As of May 2022 this funding has not been delivered. [11]

In July 2022, NIAS average regional response time to the second highest priority calls (e.g. acute stroke) had risen to 39 minutes and 31 seconds.[12] Paramedics have voiced their concern following reports that these lengthy response times have been a 'possible contributing factor' towards the death of 14 people.[13] The current NIAS Chief Executive Michael Bloomfield has expressed his disappointment and partly blames the poor response times on the high number of staff shortages and lengthy waiting times to hand over patients at Emergency Departments.[14][15]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Area Contact Details". Northern Ireland Ambulance Service. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  2. ^ https://nias.hscni.net/about/trust-board/trust-board-members/chair/
  3. ^ https://nias.hscni.net/about/trust-board/trust-board-members/chief-executive/
  4. ^ "Annual Report and Accounts for Year Ended 31 March 2019" (PDF). Northern Ireland Ambulance Service. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  5. ^ "Ambulance trust accused of jeopardising patients by sending cars". the Guardian. 13 July 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  6. ^ "A Meeting of Trust Board" (PDF). Northern Ireland Ambulance Service. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  7. ^ "St John's Ambulance thanks Northern Ireland volunteers for work over busy winter". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  8. ^ "Ambulance services and our ageing population – we need ReSPECT - aace.org.uk". aace.org.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  9. ^ "We've no confidence in bosses, Northern Ireland Ambulance Service staff say". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  10. ^ Rice, Clodagh (27 September 2018). "Demand jumps for NI ambulance services". BBC News. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  11. ^ McAleese, Deborah (11 May 2022). "Ambulance chief warns of five-year wait to meet current demand". ITV News. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  12. ^ https://nias.hscni.net/download/public/Corporate/Trust/Trust%20Board%20Papers/2022/Trust-Board-public-papers-25-August-2022-Copy.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  13. ^ "Ambulances failed to reach 5,628 critical patients on time". Belfast Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  14. ^ "NI health crisis: Ambulance delays 'possible factor' in 14 deaths". BBC News. 6 April 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  15. ^ "Northern Ireland hospitals 'beyond capacity' as ambulances left queuing for 11 hours". Sky News. Retrieved 8 December 2022.

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Northern Ireland Ambulance Service.
  • Official website  
  • Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority inspection reports

April 27, 2024
northern, ireland, ambulance, service, nias, irish, seirbhís, otharchairr, thuaisceart, Éireann, ambulance, service, that, serves, whole, northern, ireland, approximately, million, people, with, other, ambulance, services, united, kingdom, does, charge, patien. The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service NIAS Irish Seirbhis Otharchairr Thuaisceart Eireann is an ambulance service that serves the whole of Northern Ireland approximately 1 9 million people As with other ambulance services in the United Kingdom it does not charge its patients directly for its services but instead receives funding through general taxation It responds to medical emergencies in Northern Ireland with the 300 plus ambulance vehicles at its disposal Its fleet includes mini buses ambulance officers cars support vehicles RRVs and accident and emergency ambulances Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Health and Social Care TrustEstablished1 April 1995HeadquartersBelfast 1 Region servedNorthern IrelandArea size5 345 square miles 13 840 km2 Population1 9 millionEstablishments46 stations and deployment pointsChairMichele Larmour 2 Chief executiveMichael Bloomfield 3 Staff1 300 2018 19 4 Websitenias wbr hscni wbr net Contents 1 History 2 Services 3 Performance 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksHistory editNIAS was formed on 1 April 1995 through the amalgamation of its four predecessors Its full title is the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Health and Social Care Trust The service is split up into five operational areas Belfast Area South Eastern Area Western Area Northern Area Southern Area nbsp Ambulance in Ann Street Belfast October 2009Services editThe service employs approximately 1 300 staff of which approximately 420 are paramedics 300 are emergency medical technicians EMT and 100 are control centre staff which work shift patterns to ensure the service is operational 24 7 They are based across 46 stations and sub stations two control centres emergency and non emergency and a regional ambulance training centre It responds to approximately 201 000 emergency 999 calls per year with the number of 999 calls is increasing per year with a combination of traditional emergency ambulances with two crew members and rapid response vehicles RRV crewed by a single paramedic RRVs respond mostly to calls where there is a potential immediate life threat Category 1 because they can respond more quickly than a conventional ambulance RRVs can also be used to respond to lower category of calls that may not require hospital care 5 Double crew ambulances respond to both emergency and non emergency healthcare professional initiated urgent calls as well as providing critical care transfers between hospitals The Trust aims to provide at least one paramedic to every emergency call by staffing each double crew emergency ambulance with two paramedics or a paramedic and an EMT and utilising RRV The trust has not adopted the controversial use of emergency care assistants ECA in the way some other UK ambulance services have In addition to the emergency medical services NIAS has a fleet of Patient Care Service vehicles which are used for more routine patient transport to from hospital Within the Patient Care Service there are both single crewed sitting case minibus vehicles as well as double crewed intermediate care vehicles ICV which carry a stretcher In 2019 the service entered a partnership with the Ulster University to deliver a foundation degree in Paramedic Science with the first cohort of trainees graduating in December 2019 and the final fourth cohort graduating in January 2023 Future cohorts are now managed directly by Ulster University with the BSc honours degree commencing in September 2021 In 2016 NIAS was commissioned to provide a helicopter emergency medical service HEMS for the first time in Northern Ireland which was by then the only region of the UK not to have one Following a public consultation they partnered with the charity Air Ambulance Northern Ireland who provide the aircraft and airbase with the doctors and paramedics provided by NIAS The service undertook its first live mission in August 2017 Performance editNIAS triages all emergency calls using an internationally recognised system of prioritisation Currently it has a target time of eight minutes to reach the scene of the highest priority calls i e those deemed to represent an immediate risk to life but during December 2017 only 47 5 of this target was met therefore the average response time in Northern Ireland was 16 minutes 10 seconds 6 Currently the trust works with volunteer and private ambulance services to help cope and meet key response times this is a result of the current increased demand due to an aging population and the squeeze on public spending across Northern Ireland over the last decade 7 8 Staff have expressed concern by the growing pressures they face and overall low morale across the service 9 The ambulance service aims to restructure their service to cope with future increased demand In September 2018 the ambulance service requested an additional 30 million in funding from the Department of Health to restructure the service and to recruit an additional 300 staff members most of whom would be Paramedics EMTs and emergency call takers This recruitment is meant to quicken response times and relieve pressure on staff 10 As of May 2022 this funding has not been delivered 11 In July 2022 NIAS average regional response time to the second highest priority calls e g acute stroke had risen to 39 minutes and 31 seconds 12 Paramedics have voiced their concern following reports that these lengthy response times have been a possible contributing factor towards the death of 14 people 13 The current NIAS Chief Executive Michael Bloomfield has expressed his disappointment and partly blames the poor response times on the high number of staff shortages and lengthy waiting times to hand over patients at Emergency Departments 14 15 See also editEmergency medical services in the United Kingdom National Health Service List of Government departments and agencies in Northern Ireland HSE National Ambulance Service Ambulance service in the Republic of IrelandReferences edit Area Contact Details Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Retrieved 3 December 2019 https nias hscni net about trust board trust board members chair https nias hscni net about trust board trust board members chief executive Annual Report and Accounts for Year Ended 31 March 2019 PDF Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Retrieved 3 December 2019 Ambulance trust accused of jeopardising patients by sending cars the Guardian 13 July 2017 Retrieved 2 January 2023 A Meeting of Trust Board PDF Northern Ireland Ambulance Service 1 February 2018 Retrieved 19 February 2018 St John s Ambulance thanks Northern Ireland volunteers for work over busy winter BelfastTelegraph co uk ISSN 0307 1235 Retrieved 15 January 2018 Ambulance services and our ageing population we need ReSPECT aace org uk aace org uk Retrieved 10 January 2023 We ve no confidence in bosses Northern Ireland Ambulance Service staff say BelfastTelegraph co uk ISSN 0307 1235 Retrieved 31 January 2019 Rice Clodagh 27 September 2018 Demand jumps for NI ambulance services BBC News Retrieved 30 September 2018 McAleese Deborah 11 May 2022 Ambulance chief warns of five year wait to meet current demand ITV News Retrieved 31 August 2022 https nias hscni net download public Corporate Trust Trust 20Board 20Papers 2022 Trust Board public papers 25 August 2022 Copy pdf bare URL PDF Ambulances failed to reach 5 628 critical patients on time Belfast Telegraph ISSN 0307 1235 Retrieved 8 December 2022 NI health crisis Ambulance delays possible factor in 14 deaths BBC News 6 April 2022 Retrieved 29 August 2022 Northern Ireland hospitals beyond capacity as ambulances left queuing for 11 hours Sky News Retrieved 8 December 2022 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Official website nbsp Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority inspection reports Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Northern Ireland Ambulance Service amp oldid 1161409438, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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