Wednesday 11th September 2013 – 11.15am – Claire Brown.
A new ‘Make Ready’ ambulance preparation and maintenance hub has opened in Birmingham.
The site, at Hollymoor Point, Hollymoor Way, Northfield, is the home of a new dedicated team of ambulance fleet assistants who clean, stock and prepare ambulances in readiness for clinical staff. It became operational from Tuesday 9th July.
It is one of five hubs in Birmingham and the Black Country. Dudley Hub on Burton Road, Willenhall Hub on Ashmore Lake Way and West Bromwich Hub in Hargate Lane are already operational. A further hub in Erdington is due to open later this month.
Nathan Hudson, Birmingham General Manager, said: “The new hub is a big improvement on our old traditional ambulance stations on Bristol Road in Selly Oak and Monyhull Hall Road in King’s Norton which were past their best and had been for some years. The hub is fresh, clean and modern with comfortable facilities for staff and plenty of room for vehicles and equipment.
“The move into the new hub went well with a few teething problems, typical of a new build, but we’re now fully functional as a hub. This is credit to the work of our management team, excellent planning on their part and all of our staff who have taken the move in their stride. This is a job well done and I would like to thank those involved for their hard work and dedication.
“I am confident that the move to the ‘make ready’ system will go a long way in delivering a better environment for our staff and, more importantly, an even better service to patients in Birmingham.
The construction of the new hub in Northfield has been done in conjunction with Hortons Estate Developments Limited. Richard Norgrove, Property Director from Hortons said: “We are delighted to have worked with West Midlands Ambulance Service once more to complete another “make ready” facility. The development has been completed on time and we look forward to our continued association with West Midlands Ambulance Service”.
The hubs are a central part of ‘Make Ready’, a project to overhaul and modernise the ambulance service in the West Midlands. Based on fifteen-and-a-half successful years in Staffordshire, the project involves the creation of new hubs and the sale of traditional ambulance stations. The traditional stations are being replaced by smaller, lower maintenance and lower cost community ambulance stations. In Birmingham and the Black Country, the number of new community ambulance stations is nearly three times that of the current traditional ambulance stations.
Ambulances prepared at the hubs will disperse to community ambulance stations from where they will respond to medical emergencies.
The entire ‘Make Ready’ project across Birmingham and the Black Country is due to be fully implemented this year.
Ends
Notes to Editors:
Photograph 1 (group left to right): Operational staff Carey Phillips, Malcolm Dixon, Ray Lloyd, Kat Hall and Dave Roberts outside Hollymoor Hub.
Photograph 2 (left to right): Birmingham South’s Assistant Area Manager Tim Hughes and Area Manager Dax Morris outside Hollymoor Hub.
Photograph 3: Vehicle workshop area at Hollymoor Hub.
Photograph 4: Outside of Hollymoor Hub.
Photograph 5: Make Ready area of Hollymoor Hub.
My 88yr old mother was taken ill last Friday , both the paramedic and the ambulance crew who attended were excellent. They were professional, friendly and helpful and put my mothers wellbeing first with an excellent call on taking her to Moseley Hall Hospital instead of the QE. Many thanks for everything
Hi Mary…many thanks indeed for your kind words. We’d love to pass them onto the staff involved. Would it be possible for you to either drop a few more details here or by emailing your thoughts to pals@wmas.nhs.uk Many thanks
Today I had an ambulance out where I do have them about once a week the ambulance today was brilliant, they was called manni and Claire one of the best I have ever had. They was working over their shift but they still helped as much as they could and made sure I was comfortable and out of pain. They deserve a award!! I have had Nathan Hudson come out on call to be before and he told me to e-mail weather it is a good report or not. Brilliant people.
Sent from my iPhone
Hi Michaela…
Really glad to hear that the crew did such a good job.
We’d love to pass on your kind comments to them. Any chance you could let us know where and when this happened please. If you could let us have the address they came to via this or if you prefer by emailing pals@wmas.nhs.uk
Many thanks again.
I called the ambulance service last Friday and again Saturday. Their response was fast; very professional, caring and friendly. I was impressed by their skill and very thankful.
Terry Marnell
Many thanks for your kind comments
about 4.30am on Friday 16 august, we had to call an ambulance out as I had a rheumatoid arthritis flare. my foot was so swollen, I was in a lot of pain, distressed and could not move. Toby and Fi, the ambulance crew are professional, friendly and confident and helped me as much as they could and made sure I was comfortable and out of pain. they do such a good job. Brilliant people. thank you so much x
If one of your paramedic team is beginning to suffer from stress due to the awful work patterns you run who can they turn to without feeling they may be victimised or worse ignored.
It’s a very good question, but one that we’re happy to answer.
The simple answer is that there are many routes an individual can go through to talk about stress. These are just some of them:
1) Their local management team are very willing to talk about such matters
2) We have our peer support group called SALS who are available 24/7
3) We have all the usual support available through our HR Department
4) We have mental health champions who are able to sign post people to assistance
5) We have an extensive health and well-being network who can also provide support
6) The Trust recently took on two mental health practitioners who can provide expert advice
The Trust is committed to providing support for staff with mental health concerns. We talk quite openly about it – have a look at some of the posts from @wmasJamesD on Twitter – he has talked about the help and support he had had.
We have a number of staff who are on rotas that help them.
I hope this gives you a flavour of the support available and if you are a member of our staff or the person you are talking about is, we would strongly urge them to seek help through the Trust.
Thanks
Thanks to the two girls who helped me when I had a heart attack at. Lodge Hill cemetery Thursday the 8th of November you were lovely thanks so much
Thanks to the Crew driving down the Bristol Rd at 6.35am who tailgated my wife when there wasn’t another soul on the road. Well done nearly caused her to panic. No need.
Good morning Malc…
I am sorry that you feel that one of our crews was driving appropriately.
Are you able to give us any other details so that we can investigate this further?
Did your wife get a registration number or the four digit vehicle number by any chance?
If not, are you able to say where it was on Bristol Road?
Once again, apologies.
My husband was treated this morning by para medics, Dale, first response and Tom and April from Northfield.. I would sincerely like to thank them all for their kindness and empathy towards both my husband and myself.. They showed such professionalism in every way. Thank you so very much.