BASICS responders and the Deregulation Act 2015

The request was successful.

Dr Robert S. Coull

Dear North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust,

With the introduction of Section 50 and Schedule 9 of the Deregulation Act 2015, it became lawful for vehicles responding to an emergency at the request of an NHS ambulance service to respond using emergency warning devices and to claim certain exemptions from road traffic legislation in order to make safe progress without un-necessary delay to bring skilled help to patients with life or limb threatening emergencies. One such group are doctors, nurses, and paramedics who are members of the charity the British Association for Immediate Care and who attend life threatening emergencies at the request of NHS ambulance services across the UK.

Please could you provide me with the following information.

1. Does your ambulance service task BASICS responders to 999 calls?

2. If yes, do any of those responders make use of the relevent sections of the Deregulation Act 2015 when responding in their own (or third party organisation) vehicles?

3. If yes, what governance procedures do you have in place (if any) for this? (Eg: Section 19 driver training, Memorandum of Understanding, Honourary Contracts etc..)

Thank you in advance for your assistance with this request. Your time is appreciated, and your answers will be used to improve the services we provide to patients.

Yours faithfully,

Dr Robert S. Coull

FOI Enquiries, North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust

4 Attachments

Thank you for your request for information which is currently being
reviewed under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We will contact you again with a response within the 20 working days
commitment outlined in the Freedom of Information Act.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if this is the case, we
will let you know. A fees notice will be issued which will need to be paid
before we proceed with your request.

If you have any queries, please contact the FOI Co-ordinator on 01204
498306.

Thank you.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

North West Ambulance Service is an aspirant Foundation Trust. Please back our
bid by becoming a member! Visit our website at www.nwas.nhs.uk/foundationtrust,
email [email address] or call 01204 498400 for more information.

 

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Please consider the environment before printing this email.

FOI Enquiries, North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust

North West Ambulance Service

Email: mailto:[email address]

FOI996

Dear Dr Coull

Thank you for your request for information.

Your request has been received and is currently being reviewed under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We will contact you again with a response to your request within the 20 working days commitment outlined in the Freedom of Information Act. However if there are any queries with your request which I need to clarify with you, I will contact you at the earliest opportunity.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I will let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be required to pay before we will proceed to deal with your request.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please remember to quote the reference above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely
Christina

Christina Burke
Communications Assistant
Strategy and Planning Directorate
North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust
Headquarters, Ladybridge Hall, 399 Chorley New Road, Bolton, BL1 5DD
[email address]
01204 498306
0161 279 4872
Internal ext : 5987
www.nwas.nhs.uk

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Dr Robert S. Coull

Dear North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust's handling of my FOI request 'BASICS responders and the Deregulation Act 2015'.

Reason: Failure to respond within the statutory time frame.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/b...

Yours faithfully,

Dr Robert S. Coull

FOI Enquiries, North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust

2 Attachments

 

Thank you for your request for information.

Your request has been received and is currently being reviewed under the
terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. 

We will contact you again with a response to your request within the 20
working days commitment outlined in the Freedom of Information Act. 
However if there are any queries with your request which I need to clarify
with you, I will contact you at the earliest opportunity.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I will
let you know.  A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be
required to pay before we will proceed to deal with your request. 

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me.  Please
remember to quote the reference above in any future communications.

Thank you!

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

 is an aspirant Foundation Trust. Please back our bid by becoming a member!
Visit our website at www.nwas.nhs.uk/foundationtrust, email [email address] or
call 01204 498400 for more information.

 

This message (and any associated files) is intended only for the use of
the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain
information that is confidential, subject to copyright or constitutes a
trade secret. If you are not the intended recipient you are hereby
notified that any dissemination, copying or distribution of this message,
or files associated with this message, is strictly prohibited. If you have
received this message in error, please notify us immediately by replying
to the message and deleting it from your computer. Messages sent to and
from us may be monitored.

Internet communications cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as
information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late
or incomplete, or contain viruses. Therefore, we do not accept
responsibility for any errors or omissions that are present in this
message, or any attachment, that have arisen as a result of e-mail
transmission. If verification is required, please request a hard-copy
version. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author
and do not necessarily represent those of the company.

 

Please note that North West Ambulance Service may monitor email traffic
data and also the content of email for the purposes of security and staff
training.

 

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

FOI Enquiries, North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust

2 Attachments

 

 FOI996

 

Dear Dr Coull,

 

In response to your Freedom of Information request please find the
information below:

 

1.  Does your ambulance service task BASICS responders to 999 calls? –
North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) does task BASICS responders to attend
to emergency 999 incidents on blue lights and sirens.

 

2.  If yes, do any of those responders make use of the relevent sections
of the Deregulation Act 2015 when responding in their own (or third party
organisation) vehicles?

 

The Deregulation Act permits BASICS to respond using Emergency Warning
Equipment (EWE) for the purpose of providing a response to an emergency at
the request of an NHS ambulance service. Therefore the BASICS doctors
respond on blue lights and sirens having received blue light training and
use the traffic exemptions. The use of side retro reflectors under the
Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations only pertains to vehicles owned or
leased directly by the trust.

 

Any doctors using their own vehicles (and therefore their own insurance
company) must inform their insurers of the specific use of that vehicle
i.e. may be being used for ambulance purposes and therefore may be
claiming exemptions to road traffic law; additionally they must also
inform the insurance company of the retro fitting of EWE, as technically
this is classed as a modification i.e. non-standard factory fit.  

 

3.  If yes, what governance procedures do you have in place (if any) for
this?  (Eg: Section 19 driver training, Memorandum of Understanding,
Honourary Contracts etc..)

 

·         All BASICS responders have honorary contracts with NWAS and
memorandum of understanding which states that responders are compliant
with NWAS policies and legislation.

·         The driver must have successfully completed a recognised High
Speed Driver Training course that is compliant with the High Speed Driving
Competency Training code of practice (sections 4,11 and 20). The current
arrangements are:

 

New starters: IAM/ROSPA advanced driver training, 5 days of Section 19
approved blue light driver training), an online written test and a blue
light assessment drive with an NWAS driver training instructor to be
signed off and registered with the nation register of blue light drivers.

 

Existing blue light drivers: provide evidence of recent blue light driver
training (Section 19 approved) within the last five years, pass of
IAM/ROSPA advanced driver training and a blue light assessment drive with
an NWAS driver training instructor to be signed off and registered with
the National Register of blue light drivers.

 

·         Re-training/re-registration must take place on a five yearly
basis in accordance with the HSDR code of practice and Section 19 when
enacted. Additionally, and in accordance with a Regulation 28 report under
 The Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013, this training must take
place in the same or similar type vehicle to the one that they will be
responding in.

 

I hope this information is of assistance.

 

Kind regards

Caroline

 

 

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

North West Ambulance Service is an aspirant Foundation Trust. Please back our
bid by becoming a member! Visit our website at www.nwas.nhs.uk/foundationtrust,
email [email address] or call 01204 498400 for more information.

 

This message (and any associated files) is intended only for the use of
the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain
information that is confidential, subject to copyright or constitutes a
trade secret. If you are not the intended recipient you are hereby
notified that any dissemination, copying or distribution of this message,
or files associated with this message, is strictly prohibited. If you have
received this message in error, please notify us immediately by replying
to the message and deleting it from your computer. Messages sent to and
from us may be monitored.

Internet communications cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as
information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late
or incomplete, or contain viruses. Therefore, we do not accept
responsibility for any errors or omissions that are present in this
message, or any attachment, that have arisen as a result of e-mail
transmission. If verification is required, please request a hard-copy
version. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author
and do not necessarily represent those of the company.

 

Please note that North West Ambulance Service may monitor email traffic
data and also the content of email for the purposes of security and staff
training.

 

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

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