London Assembly Health Committee uses Healthwatch Kingston's evidence to inform London Ambulance Service Strategy
The London Assembly press release said:
The London Ambulance Service’s five-year strategy should include targets and an action plan for how it will improve workforce diversity to better represent the city it serves, with only one in five of its current workforce from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic background.
The London Assembly Health Committee has written to the London Ambulance Service (LAS) with 5 recommendations for its new organisational strategy for 2023-28, following a discussion with representatives and a call to patient groups and members of the public for written evidence.
The recommendations include urging that the LAS 2023-28 strategy includes an action plan for how it will improve workforce diversity, in particular for paramedics.
LAS accepts that this is an area in which it wants to improve, telling the Committee that “an only 20 per cent diverse workforce… in a city where 50 per cent of people are not white British, that feels totally wrong”.
Representatives suggested to the Committee that the workforce will become more ethnically representative of London by increasing take-up of different routes into paramedicine, such as the entry-level ambulance practitioner programme, and by training and upskilling its call-handlers.
Other recommendations include:
- The LAS should include in its new strategy commitments to increase levels of patient engagement, in order to give patients a greater say in how services are delivered.
- The LAS should include in its new strategy specific commitments and targets around public awareness and education initiatives. These should relate to issues such as when the public should call 999, how they should do so, and actions they can take to prevent emergency care being required in the first place.
- The LAS strategy should include commitments and targets to increase its outreach work in schools and colleges, in order to encourage more people into the profession.
Healthwatch Kingston's Community Engagement
We are delighted that our community engagement carried out between November 2022 and January 2023 has supported the work of the London Assembly Health Committee and will further inform the London Ambulance Service as they develop their strategy. Our full Healthwatch Kingston report will be published later this year (after the publication of the London Ambulance Service Strategy 2023 - 2028). The strategy will also be informed by community engagement reports from other local Healthwatch across London.
Healthwatch Kingston carried out community engagement from November 2022 to January 2023 on the subject of LAS performance in the local area and where improvements could be made. One of its findings was around how LAS could improve service provision for those who are neurodiverse or have a learning disability. This kind of insight is invaluable in supporting the organisation to adapt to the diverse needs of Londoners, and LAS must ensure that there are processes in place for patients, particularly those with specific needs or from disadvantaged backgrounds, to provide this kind of feedback.
Healthwatch Kingston, as part of its community engagement work, found that there was an issue with the “public’s lack of understanding about when to use the service and when to use alternatives”, in particular whether someone should call 999, call 111, or contact their GP. The Healthwatch Kingston consultation also found that “people wanted more education for the community on how to support themselves before emergency intervention is required.” LAS representatives at the meeting explained that public knowledge of how to make 999 calls and what to expect when making the call is highly valued by LAS staff.
