Independent review into Jersey emergency services reveals lack of staff and inadequate funding

• A video report by ITV Channel Reporter Alex Spiceley

Two independent reviews looking into the quality of emergency services in Jersey have revealed inadequate funding and lack of staff.

The reports explore the States of Jersey Ambulance Service (SJAS) and the States of Jersey Fire and Rescue Service (SJFRS).

SJAS review and recommendations

The review concluded that the SJAS is a good organisation with "passionate and caring staff who provide a good quality of care to patients".

Members of staff were found to also have access to equipment that is fit for purpose and are "adequately trained".

However, there were also priority areas for improvement including increasing levels of staffing, managing overspending and improvements to document control in relation to patient care records.

Staffing levels

In terms of the capacity of the service, the report showed levels of staffing are inadequate in terms of meeting current demands.

This is highlighted through "increased response times and longer waits for patients".

This "has a detrimental effect on patients" and impacts the "health and wellbeing of staff and managers" as well as the overall reputation of the service.

The report showed current staffing levels mean senior managers are not able to concentrate on their managerial roles due to frequent need to support frontline resourcing.

Overspending

The report stated that that "current financial envelope within which the service operates is not sustainable".

This is highlighted by the estimated overspend of around £400,000 expected by the end of 2022.

It is suggested that going forward, budgets need to be reviewed to offer "realistic and sustainable funding", with less reliance on overtime and external providers for resourcing.

The report suggests a full demand and capacity review (DCR) should be undertaken to work out "the required resourcing and skill mix needed to meet its current and future demand".

DCR is routine practice within UK ambulance services and the review said that it "is now urgently required if the service is to understand its capacityand funding requirements to reliably inform planning processes."

Document control

Improvements to document control regarding patient care records also requires improvement, according to the report.

It reads: "Information governance policies and procedures require development to ensure compliance with best practice.

"The way in which document control is managed, and the storage of, and access to, patient care records involving patient identifiable data, need to be improved."

Inadequately funded

SJAS is also "inadequately funded" due to a combination of issues such as a lack of core capacity leading to a need to use more agency staff and for staff to do more overtime.

Since the review was concluded, a number of its recommendations have already been addressed.

A working group has been set up and tasked with reviewing and implementing any required changes.

SJAS is also working closely with colleagues from Health & CommunityServices (HCS) to agree a framework for both strategic and tactical work between the departments.

The Minister for Home Affairs, Deputy Helen Miles, said: “I’m grateful to the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives for facilitating Jersey’s first review of the Ambulance Service since its move to the Justice and Home Affairs department.

“The findings are extremely useful and will allow the team to make further practical improvements to enable the staff to maintain and build upon the great service they already provide to islanders."

Chief Ambulance Officer, Pete Gavey said: “I’d like to thank colleagues from AACE for their time and effort put in to helping us effectively review our service.

"Overall, I see the findings as fair and generally positive of the States of Jersey Ambulance Service.

“I’m especially pleased with the comments regarding staff dedication and passion. I can attest to this, and I’m made proud daily by my staff’s tenacity and hard work, particularly over the last two years of the pandemic.

“We are committed to providing the best possible service for islanders, and a working group has already formed and actioned a number of points to address the suggestions.”

SJFRS review and recommendations

The report highlights a number of positive attributes about the service, in particular that there are "committed and dedicated people at all levels of the Service who are focused on keeping Islanders safe."

It said that vehicles and equipment used by SJFRS are of a good quality and there are some good instances of partnership working as well as evidence of innovative practices.

The report does, however, point to "structural and resourcing challenges" which are preventing the SJRFRS from fulfilling basic functions adequately and inhibiting necessary change and "improvement to address evolving risk and wider professional developments".

Prevention Protection and Response

The “Prevention, Protection and Response” approach looks to align with the best practice in the UK.

However, the report stated that the service is "unable to deliver effectively" across all three of these functions due to reduced resources in the past two years.

In the past two years a new structure was implemented which took out several senior officer posts including the Deputy Chief Fire Officer and Group Manager levels.

This has placed multiple demands on operational staff, which in turn reduces the time available for operational staff to keep up to date with their operational training.

Training concerns

Although firefighters and officers reported equipment to be of good quality, there are concerns surrounding the amount of training needed for firefighters to gain and maintain competence on new vehicles and other new equipment.

Reliable data was also not available on individual training records, operational learning and how staff learn from incidents in other services.

This leaves the service and its personnel at "potential risk" if there is a major incident on the island.

The Chief Fire Officer, however, has brought these issues to the attention of the Department for Justice and Home Affairs.

The Minister for Home Affairs, Helen Miles, said: “I’m pleased that the report recognised the Service’s ‘openness, transparency, and desire to improve’ by requesting the review and the Chief Fire Officer and senior officer colleagues are already working on implementation work for the wider plan.

“Many of the recommendations are being addressed as part of a strategic action plan which I have committed to supporting and investing in as part of my Ministerial Plan.”

Chief Fire Officer, Paul Brown said: “I acknowledge the recommendations in the review and have a clear plan to address the challenges ahead and have been working with government since before the peer review to secure investment, through the Government Plan, to enable it.”

“A business case has been approved by the Council of Ministers and investment is included in the draft Government Plan 2023-2026, for debate in the Assembly in December.

“I’m delighted that the dedication and commitment of my team has been recognised and I’m extremely proud to lead them going forward as we continue to work on the recommendations and deliver our prevention and emergency response service to protect our community.”

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