Audit Committee review of Ambulance Services in Wales published

The Wales Ambulance Trust has taken some positive steps to address the very serious problems it faces but still needs to resolve significant internal and external challenges, according to a new report from the National Assembly’s Audit Committee.

The Committee’s Review of Ambulance Services in Wales, published today (Tuesday October 21), concludes that the Trust’s modernisation plan will help it deal with some of the organisational and systemic challenges needed although it will take time to make rapid and sustained progress.

The review highlights a range of internal problems that remain barriers to improvements.  These include:

• low staff morale;

• disappointing progress in improving the quality and capacity of line management;

• unacceptable aspects of performance, despite overall improvements in ambulance responses;

• lack of a detailed estates strategy and problems with the organisation’s buildings.

The Report recommends that the Trust develops an action plan specifically designed to improve staff morale through a range of actions including improving communication between the Trust and its operational staff and addressing perceptions of bullying and harassment.  The Report also recommends that improving the communications technology on board ambulances should be a key priority and strongly recommends that the Assembly Government should consider and decide upon the Trust’s business case for these technologies as a matter of urgency.  The Report also makes recommendations in relation to the estates function, in its understanding of unscheduled care and to eliminate variations between localities in Wales.

David Melding AM, Chair of the Audit Committee, said: “The Chief Executive and the Trust Board have done well to respond to what has been an extremely challenging time for the organisation and they have taken good strides under difficult circumstances.  We are grateful for the frank and honest assessment of the Trust’s current position during the evidence sessions.  The Committee is of the strong belief, however, that more remains to be done through leadership development, filling posts and strengthening non-executives in the next phase.  We are mindful also that many of the challenges facing the Trust are due to systemic problems in the way that the health and social care system operates in Wales which the Trust cannot resolve in isolation.”

Copies of the report will shortly be available at: http://www.assemblywales.org/bus-home/bus-committees/bus-committees-third1/bus-committees-third-ac-home/bus-committees-third-ac-report.htm

For Media Interviews:

please contact Emyr Williams on the numbers below.

To note:

Alan Murray, Chief Executive of the Welsh Ambulance Service, will be appearing to update the Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee on Wednesday 22 October at 9am.

Notes to Editors:

1. In June 2006, the National Assembly for Wales voted for an inquiry into the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust (the Trust). The Auditor General for Wales (the Auditor General) led the inquiry and published his report in December 2006.^[2] The Audit Committee published its own report in March 2007.^[3] Both reports described longstanding and severe problems within the Trust but concluded that these problems could be resolved over time, provided that various internal and external challenges were resolved. The Auditor General made 28 recommendations for improvement. The Trust Board published its modernisation plan, Time to Make a Difference, in January 2007.
   

2. In December 2007, the Minister for Health and Social Services invited the Trust’s Chairman, Stuart Fletcher, to carry out a review focussing on progress against the Auditor General’s 28 recommendations. The review’s scope was broadened to include consideration of the Trust’s infection control procedures and the robustness of, and progress against the actions within, Time to Make a Difference. The Auditor General contributed to the Chairman’s review by following up on progress against his original recommendations and those made by the Audit Committee.
   

3. On the basis of the report by the Auditor General,^[4] we examined whether the Trust is well placed to deliver the improvements required by his original report, our subsequent report and the Trust’s modernisation plan. We took evidence from Mrs Ann Lloyd, Head of the Department for Health and Social Services in the Welsh Assembly Government, Alan Murray, Chief Executive of the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust and Tim Woodhead, the Trust’s Director of Finance.