Memorandum by Greater Manchester Ambulance
Service NHS Trust (GMAS NHS Trust) (SOC 68)
INTRODUCTION
1. Greater Manchester Ambulance Service
NHS Trust (GMAS NHS Trust), provides Paramedic Emergency Service
(PES) and Patient Transport Service (PTS) Ambulances to the population
of Oldham and its surrounding areas. This provision covers the
999 service to emergency situations, urgent requests for ambulance
provision by GPs and Hospital departments, and the transport of
patients to out patient appointments and day care centres.
2. GMAS NHS Trust has worked with a number
of partners in the community.
AREAS OF
COMMUNITY WORK
WITH OLDHAM
3. GMAS NHS Trust has a Community Liaison
Manager, who works with communities around Greater Manchester,
including Oldham. The work he has been involved in is as follows.
4. Each year the Crucial Crew Event takes
place, which is a partnership between Police, Fire and Ambulance
Services. It is for children aged 10-11 to provide knowledge and
practical sessions about the emergency services over a three week
period. Each year about 2,200 children are trained in Oldham.
5. Also each year the 999 Challenge takes
place, which is a partnership between Police, Fire and Ambulance
Services. This initiative is for young adults aged 14-18. An example
of a challenge is the cleaning and refurbishing of a narrow boat
for the disabled. It is a community event where communities put
in teams for the challenge. Last year as a result of the challenge,
the ambulance service made important local contacts with the black
and ethnic minorities, which developed visits to a number of local
mosques.
6. The Community Liaison Manager also makes
numerous visits into local schools. This is to explain the role
of the ambulance service to local communities and to take part
in local recruitment days.
7. GMAS NHS Trust also has a Drug Awareness
Manager, who is involved with drug awareness activities in and
around Oldham. The Trust, in partnership with drug action teams,
has employed a Manager to focus on this issue.
8. The Drug Awareness Manager has attended
drug awareness sessions at local community meetings with regards
to drug usage and its associated dangers.
9. GMAS NHS Trust employs a dedicated Equality
Manager, who applies focus to equality and diversity issues across
Greater Manchester.
10. The Equality Manager has been active
within the local communities attending sessions at local community
centres, which has included a partnership with other emergency
services and NHS bodies regarding careers within their respective
services. He has developed a network of contacts with black and
ethnic minorities to raise the profile of the Ambulance Service
and the part it can play with local communities.
11. GMAS NHS Trust has a strategy to develop
community responder teams, within particular areas, to help save
lives and bind together these communities. To apply focus, GMAS
NHS Trust employs a Community Responder Manager.
12. Working in partnership with Oldham PCT,
we are looking to start first responder teams within Glodwick
and St Mary's. A successful first responder scheme already exists
in Oldham for the Saddleworth, Diggle and Delph areas. Community
members are trained in Basic Life Support, use of an automatic
defibrillator and are mobilised to incidents by our Paramedic
Emergency Control to certain areas within the communities.
13. The local GMAS NHS Trust Operational
Manager for the West Pennine Group has attended many of the above
events within the community, and is always looking for ways to
link with local communities. For example, he also works in partnership
with Oldham Mountain Rescue, to provide a joint co-ordinated response
to incidents, and attend open evenings to demonstrate the workings
of the organisations.
14. The Operational Manager is working closely
with the local St John division to develop the use of the St John
volunteers as part of the community responder schemes mentioned
above.
15. GMAS NHS Trust fully funds the positions
of the managers mentioned above.
OTHER AMBULANCE
SERVICE INITIATIVES
16. Language booklets have been produced
and are on every front line ambulance, which assists our emergency
staff in communication with communities where English may be their
second language.
17. Should the above booklets not be sufficient
to our staff to gain adequate information, then all operational
crews have the use of a facility called Language Line. From the
vehicle mobile phone they can contact an interpreter to communicate
with the patient and/or relatives. Numerous languages are available
to the crews on the Language Line facility
18. All GMAS NHS Trust managers and supervisors
have recently completed diversity training, to give them the knowledge
and awareness of the race relations equalities.
19. GMAS NHS Trust is at present changing
its staff uniform to represent a modern NHS health provider. It
is moving away from its blue uniform, which has a military appearance,
to a softer appearance which is more identifiable as a medical
professional. This distinctive green uniform has recently been
publicised within the local media.
20. GMAS NHS Trust has made changes to its
Human Resource recruitment policy to actively encourage and assist
applications from ethnic minorities, so that GMAS NHS Trust can
be representative of the communities it serves. It has removed
some key barriers for the recruitment.
21. GMAS NHS Trust has completed a review
of its race equality scheme, with regards to policies and functions,
the scheme also includes a three year action plan. This review
highlights developments made to date and sets out future planned
activities.
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