This checklist is intended as an aid to all NHS ambulance trusts and their staff to ensure that all possible steps are being taken to improve and streamline the care of patients presenting to emergency care. Although this checklist focuses on actions by ambulance services, it is recognised that this is a whole system problem and that many important actions can be undertaken in other areas of emergency healthcare that will impact beneficially on the work of ambulance services. Similarly there is much that ambulance services can do to assist others in their health community achieve their goals. In all improvement processes in emergency care, it is vital that the whole patient journey is considered from the viewpoint of the patient and that changes in single organisations do not negatively impact on other parts of the patient’s journey. Below is a list of actions that ambulance services could take to help improve access to emergency care and so help achieve response targets and other emergency care access targets. Most are already being undertaken by some ambulance services.
Professor Sir George Alberti National Clinical Director Emergency Access
Dr Matthew Cooke Emergency Medicine Advisor Emergency Care Strategy Team

This checklist will be regularly updated. Please send your comments to matthew.cooke@doh.gsi.gov.uk

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