Categorisation of 999 calls

Good afternoon Mr van der Walt

Firstly our apologies for the delay in responding to your Freedom of Information request however this has been quite a difficult question to answer and this has resulted in the delay.

Our response to your enquiry is shown below:

Every 999 call received by the Trust goes through a categorisation process, which the final category based on the responses given by the caller. It is possible that symptoms may change between when the call was received and a response arriving on scene.

To complete the request, the Trust has analysed the clinical details of each incident in April 2011 and extracted those where the condition was either a Cardiac or Respiratory Arrest, or a stroke. The trust does not report specifically on brain haemorrhages. In April, there were 114 incidents where the condition was one of the above and the incident was categorised as a Category B. The Trust only records whether the patient was conveyed to a hospital, rather than the status of the patient when they arrive at hospital. However, of the 114 incidents, 31 were not conveyed to hospital.'

I hope this information meets your requirements but if you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been handled, you can request a review by writing to: Will Hancock, Chief Executive, South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust, Units 7 & 8 Talisman Business Centre, Talisman Road, Bicester, Oxon, OX26 6HR.

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request or complaint, you have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Telephone 0303 123 1113 Website http://www.ico.gov.uk/

Regards

Mary Jones

show quoted sections

I am on annual leave. I shall respond to your email as soon as possible upon my return on Wednesday 15 June.

If the matter is urgent please contact Barbara Sansom by email on [email address]

Many thanks
Mary Jones
Information Governance Officer

South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust is applying to become a Foundation Trust.

Any resident of South Central can apply to become a member and support our bid for Foundation Trust status. To find out more, have your views heard and get involved in shaping the future of your local ambulance service, contact the Foundation Trust Office at: [email address] or call: 01869 365000 (during office hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm). Join us, because it’s your ambulance service!

Disclaimer: The information contained in this message or any of its attachments is privileged and confidential, and is intended exclusively for the addressee. The views expressed may not be official policy of South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust, but the personal views of the originator. If you are not the addressee, any use of this communication is not authorised. If you have received this message in error, please advise the sender immediately and delete.

All emails received and sent by this Trust are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and therefore may be disclosed

Go green, Keep it on screen - think before you print.