FORMER midwife Sara Jones has a new delivery to make — helping to improve the ambulance service in Conwy.

by Martin Williams

She has been appointed to head up what will become a new department of the Welsh Ambulance Service, based in Llanfairfechan.

As the new Nurse Director, Sara must find an appropriate response for the many 999 calls that aren't life-threatening emergencies.

Her department take over the running of NHS Direct Wales of which she was previously in charge.

"Only 10% of people who ring 999 are having life-threatening emergencies, my job is to find them the right response," said Sue.

"It is unsafe to send ambulances at speed to people who don't need them.

"We need systems in place to ensure we provide the right care and the right level of care and for many people that means in their homes or in the local community."

It is no leap in the dark but something Sara is hugely optimistic about and she points to the success of the GP Triage pilot scheme in ambulance control rooms as an indication of how well NHS Direct Wales can work with the Ambulance Service.

That scheme uses GPs sourced by NHS Direct Wales to assess emergency calls and decide whether they require an ambulance or whether another, more appropriate, form of care is called for.

"The success of that scheme shows how well we can work together to make change happen," she added.

"It was the first time we had worked together and it is a credit to the team that they were able to harness the expertise of both services to make the project a success."

The transfer of NHS Direct Wales into the Welsh Ambulance Service, which became official on April 1, is the start of a programme of awareness-raising that aims to signpost the public towards the right service for their health care needs.

The extension of that is that, particularly in rural Wales, nurses and paramedic practitioners can deliver many services with the paramedics still available to respond to emergency calls.

Readers will still be able to call 0845 46 47 for health advice and information or visit the website at [www.nhsdirect.wales.nhs.uk].

Source: North Wales Weekly News, Thursday 10 May 2007 [web site] [e-mail]

The photograph of Sara Jones accompanying this article has been omitted for copyright reasons.