Dear Julian

Thank you for your Freedom of Information Request.

We will deal with this request in accordance with your right of access to
information we hold under the Freedom of Information Act and I attach a
leaflet containing further information about both your rights and our
obligations under this legislation.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to email us at
[1][South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust request email]

Kind regards,

Clare Lunk | Assistant Information Governance Manager
South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

Web [2]www.swast.nhs.uk | E-Mail [email address]

Trust Headquarters, Abbey Court, Eagle Way, Exeter, EX2 7HY, TrustHQ

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust request email]
2. http://www.swast.nhs.uk/

Dear Julian

A PDF copy of our response is also attached – we are aware of a formatting
issue on the WDTK website which may affect the legibility of the tabled
response below.

I refer to our acknowledgement on 5/10/20  in respect of your request for
information under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.  We
are able to provide the following information:

Information requested Trust response
Please provide details of the It is the ambulance crews’
management of operational vehicles responsibility to carry out the
and equipment relating to cleaning cleaning of the ambulance vehicle they
between patients and shifts. are using in between patients, as well
as cleaning at either the beginning or
  end of their shift. In addition to
this, the Trust’s Make Ready team will
Please provide details relating to swab vehicles to provide a quality
measures employed to quality control check as part of their deep
control cleaning processes, the clean on an ad-hoc basis.
auditing of cleaning processes and
any further systems in place to
ensure vehicles are cleaned
adequately between patients and
shifts.

Please provide details of any
work/shift time provided to
operational staff to allow for the
effective cleaning of vehicles and
equipment between patients and
shifts.

Please note that, under the Re-use of Public Sector Information
Regulations, if you wish to publish or otherwise use this information
besides for your own means, you will need to seek our permission to do so.

Please feel free to contact me if you require further clarification of the
information provided, or to discuss any aspect of the way in which we have
responded to your request. 

However, if you are dissatisfied with our response, you also have the
right to make use of the following complaints procedures:

In the first instance you may write to the Chief Executive of this Trust

Mr William Warrender

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

Abbey Court

Eagle Way

Exeter  EX2 7HY

Mr Warrender will then either make arrangements for your complaint to be
reviewed and for the outcome to be communicated to you, or will convene a
panel of Trust Directors to consider an appeal against a decision to
withhold information.

If you are unhappy with the response to your complaint, or findings of the
Panel, you can contact the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner’s Office,

Wycliffe House,

Water Lane,                                 

Wilmslow,

Cheshire.  SK9 5AF

Tel: 01625 545 700

Fax: 01625 524 510

Kind regards

Clare Lunk | Assistant Information Governance Manager

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

[1]cid:[email address]

Web [2]www.swast.nhs.uk

E-Mail [3][email address]

Abbey Court, Eagle Way, Exeter EX2 7HY

References

Visible links
2. http://www.swast.nhs.uk/
3. mailto:[email address]

Hi Julian,

Just a quick message to say we are in the process of pulling together some
more detailed information for you on this FOI, I’m just waiting on some
more information from another team. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can,
just wanted to reassure you that it’s in progress!

Kind regards,

Clare Lunk | Assistant Information Governance Manager
South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

Direct Line 01392 261 603 | Web [1]www.swast.nhs.uk | E-Mail
[email address]

Trust Headquarters, Abbey Court, Eagle Way, Exeter, EX2 7HY, TrustHQ

show quoted sections

Hi Julian,

The response is being finalised – I’m hoping to get the extra information
to you over this week with a bit of luck. Thank you for your patience.

Kind regards,

Clare Lunk | Assistant Information Governance Manager
South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

Direct Line 01392 261 603 | Web [1]www.swast.nhs.uk | E-Mail
[email address]

Trust Headquarters, Abbey Court, Eagle Way, Exeter, EX2 7HY, TrustHQ

show quoted sections

Hi Julian,

Apologies if our previous FOI response did not cover what you were looking
for. We have subsequently spent time obtaining more detailed information
for you. Thank you for your patience during this process.  

We have since received the below information from our Make Ready Manager:

Reference the details relating to measures employed to quality controls on
the deep cleaning processes. We have an agreed 42 day deep clean schedule
that is carried out in line with the vehicle safety inspection. The Make
Ready team have an operating manual that provides details for the deep
cleans that they then carry out they also have access to an A-Z  infection
control guidance that sets out the type of clean required depending on the
type of contamination. We only use agreed products that all make ready
teams use to standardise the clean and have an infection control working
group which then reviews these and any new products.

Locally to carry out quality control of the cleans the Make Ready team
leaders will sign off deep clean to say that it has been cleaned to an
agreed standard and will also audit cleans by carrying out swabbing in all
areas across the Trust. All the Make ready team complete a level 2
Infection control module every year.

We have a deep clean compliancy target of 90% for all operational vehicles
which can be viewed in a live report. This then helps to identify any
overdue vehicles.

In terms of ambulance crew expected procedures we also have the below
information for you:

Essentially this is dealt with in one of our Standard Operating Procedures
 (OP01 ‘Commencement, Deployment and Termination of Shift’).  Ambulance
crews receive 15 mins at start of shift for vehicle preparation and
critical equipment checks. Dispatchers also aim to have crews back at
their base station 30 mins before the end of their shift, allowing time
for cleaning and restocking.  There is also wrap-up time of 10-15 mins
after every attendance at hospital, once a patient has been handed over. 

In addition to the above, please find attached a copy of our latest
Cleaning Schedule for Emergency Ambulances, as provided by our  Infection
Prevention and Control team.

I hope this information is useful to you Julian – if however there is
anything else you need, please let me know and I’ll be happy to help.

Kind regards,

Clare Lunk | Assistant Information Governance Manager
South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

Direct Line 01392 261 603 | Web [1]www.swast.nhs.uk | E-Mail
[email address]

Trust Headquarters, Abbey Court, Eagle Way, Exeter, EX2 7HY, TrustHQ

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