INQ159

TitleLong
Delivery of Ambulance Services to the ACT Community (ACT)
INQAuthor
Tu Pham, Auditor General
Year
InquiryType
DisasterType
State
Status

Recommendations for this Inquiry

INQ-ref REC-UID CODE SubCode SrcNUM Recommendation
INQ159 REC159-3046 E - Agency Organisation 12 - EM agency and authority Recommendation 1

ACT Ambulance Service (ACTAS) should revise its Business Plan to address key priorities and activities for each key service delivery function. This would include clearer expected outputs to be delivered annually and their prioritisation.

INQ159 REC159-3061 E - Agency Organisation 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform Recommendation 16

ACTAS should develop and implement policies and guidance to staff on how complaints should be assessed and actioned, including timeliness targets.

INQ159 REC159-3060 E - Agency Organisation 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform Recommendation 15

ACTAS should develop a policy that provides direction on what type of feedback it will seek, from whom it will seek the feedback, and how this feedback will be used to improve the patient care experience.

INQ159 REC159-3059 A - Responsibility 38 - Agency/Department Reporting Recommendation 14

ACTAS should establish a clinical information database that:
• enables the tracking and analysis of patient care records;
• facilitates improvements to the clinical care of patients; and

INQ159 REC159-3058 A - Responsibility 25 - Inquiry, audit, lessons management and after action review Recommendation 13

ACTAS should improve patient care processes by:
• developing risk-based procedures for selecting, planning and conducting ‘Patient Care Record Reviews’, ‘Specific Reviews’ and ‘Medical Reviews’;
• monitoring whether these reviews are carried out as planned; and

INQ159 REC159-3057 E - Agency Organisation 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform Recommendation 12

ACTAS should conduct formal reviews of its clinical procedures manuals in consultation with its Clinical Advisory Committee, and develop guidance to oversight these reviews.

INQ159 REC159-3056 E - Agency Organisation 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform Recommendation 11

ACTAS should specify and document the role of each of its various clinical governance processes, how they relate to each other, and how these will be managed, measured and monitored within an overarching clinical framework.

INQ159 REC159-3055 A - Responsibility 38 - Agency/Department Reporting Recommendation 10

ACTAS should implement systems to enable the accurate collection and measurement of non-emergency ambulance service bookings to facilitate monitoring of performance and the provision of accurate advice to Government.

INQ159 REC159-3054 E - Agency Organisation 12 - EM agency and authority Recommendation 9

ACTAS should improve systems to manage its non-emergency transport services, provide training and guidance to staff on use of these systems, and implement a quality assurance process.

INQ159 REC159-3053 E - Agency Organisation 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform Recommendation 8

ACTAS should develop policies and guidelines to assist ambulance officers’ decisions on whether or not to transport a patient to hospital.

INQ159 REC159-3052 E - Agency Organisation 12 - EM agency and authority Recommendation 7

ACTAS should develop and implement as a matter of priority, appropriate strategies to address declining response times.

INQ159 REC159-3051 E - Agency Organisation 32 - Doctrine, standards, and reform Recommendation 6

ACTAS should:
• develop appropriate guidance and procedures on ambulance dispatch decisions;
• collate and monitor information on ambulance dispatching; and

INQ159 REC159-3050 A - Responsibility 38 - Agency/Department Reporting Recommendation 5

ACTAS should log all emergency calls on CAD to document non-ambulance dispatch decisions, and to provide more complete data on demand.

INQ159 REC159-3049 E - Agency Organisation 12 - EM agency and authority Recommendation 4

ACTAS should enhance its approach to demand modelling in order to better guide current and future ambulance resourcing by:
• identifying the drivers of demand and what data it will collect and collate in order to model future demand; and

INQ159 REC159-3048 E - Agency Organisation 12 - EM agency and authority Recommendation 3

ACTAS should enhance its approach to risk management by:
• systematically identifying risks to the delivery of services;
• developing and implementing appropriate mitigation strategies; and
• systematically monitoring risks and their treatments.

INQ159 REC159-3047 A - Responsibility 38 - Agency/Department Reporting Recommendation 2

ACTAS should develop a comprehensive performance management framework that includes key performance indicators and targets aligned to its service delivery activities, to help inform management and stakeholders of its performance.

INQ159 REC159-3062 A - Responsibility 38 - Agency/Department Reporting Recommendation 17

ACTAS should develop a set of standards to measure and monitor patient satisfaction, so that improvements to the service can be made, based on patient satisfaction information.