Delivering person-centred services
Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust - Welsh Ambulance Service Non Emergency Patient Transport Service End of Life Care Rapid Transport Service
The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust (WAST) Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service (NEPTS) has been providing pre-planned transport to End of Life Care (EoLC) patients for many years. However, in the event of a sudden deterioration, clinicians often resorted to calling 999 in the belief this was the quickest way to get transport. However, 999 calls are prioritised so that paramedics attend patients with potentially fatal yet reversible conditions. This results in patients dying from an irreversible terminal illness being given a lower priority, and therefore waiting longer to be transferred to their preferred place of death.
As the service did not have any dedicated resource available for End of Life journeys, a decision was made to implement a service that could utilise existing resources across WAST and its delivery partners. An all-Wales booking number was established and utilised one of the WAST discharge desks as a central booking point for healthcare professionals (HCPs) to contact.
To ensure the required information was captured to achieve the best patient experience, an End of Life booking form was developed in partnership with palliative care clinicians. A NEPTS End of Life guidance document was also established to help HCPs understand what the service is, how it works and which number to use to contact the service.
In August 2017, the NEPTS EoLC Rapid Transport Service was piloted in four sites in Wales. Each of the initial journeys was evaluated for timeliness and to ensure that the relevant HCP’s feedback was built into the operation of the service.
The service is now available across Wales and has carried out almost 600 journeys. A recent review of the service revealed the median waiting time for an ambulance booked through the EoLC Rapid Transport Service is 52 minutes.
