PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Ambulance Services: Essex (26 June 2019)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to additional blue light emergency patient transfers between hospitals proposed in the mid/south Essex sustainability and transformation plan, what estimate has been made of the number of additional emergency transfers each day; in which financial year the contract for those transfers is due to be let; which element of the NHS will fund that contract; whether the contract will be let competitively; and whether the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust has the capacity to service that contract.

Asked by:
Mr Mark Francois (Conservative)

The Mid and South Essex Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP) has set out proposals to change how they provide specialist care across the three hospitals in their STP, to improve access for their population. The proposals are currently under review by the Independent Reconfiguration Panel.

The proposals include the development of a ‘treat and transfer’ model which would allow a small number of patients within specified conditions to be stabilised at their local accident and emergency department and then, if appropriate, transferred using a specialist clinical transfer service to a different hospital to receive ongoing specialist treatment and care. If this model is utilised, it is anticipated that 15 additional patients each day could be transferred, increasing the total number transferred each day to 29.

As the proposals are currently subject to a referral to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel, the commissioning of any service will not commence prior to the resolution of that process. The Mid and South Essex STP has secured £118 million of capital investment to support these plans. A full competitive tender process will be undertaken if the proposals are pursued.

Once the final service specification has been agreed and issued to the market, the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust and other providers will be in a position to determine their capacity to fulfil the contract, which would be assessed through any procurement process.

Answered by:
Stephen Hammond (Conservative)
1 July 2019