Priti listens in while call handler, Alice Rood deals with an emergency call.
Priti joins East of England Ambulance staff at their newly refurbished operations centre
Witham’s MP, Priti Patel, has visited the East of England Ambulance Service’s operations centre at Broomfield to meet emergency call handlers and Ambulance professionals at the Service’s newly refurbished facilities.
During her visit on Friday, 13th January, Priti was joined by East of England Ambulance Service Chief Executive Tom Abell and toured the re-designed centre, which includes a new, integrated call handling co-ordination operation between medically trained professionals, call handers and ambulance despatch teams.
In their meeting after the tour, Priti and Tom Abell discussed the key issues affecting the Service, including the current demand for ambulances, and the significant hand over delays that crews are experiencing at hospitals.
Speaking after her visit, Priti said: “I am grateful to everyone at the East of England Ambulance Service for their professionalism and care throughout this very difficult winter period. Call demand has been exceptionally high and spending time today with emergency call handlers gave a good insight into the types of demands and pressures placed upon the service. I appreciate the pressures the Ambulance Service and its highly dedicated staff are under at the present time, and it was good to hear from Tom in more detail about the impact this is having on the front line.
“Staff working across our emergency and healthcare services have demonstrated incredible dedication to their public service over the last three years, which have been very difficult for our country and particularly, for the health and care sectors. During my time as Home Secretary, I ensured police officers received a well-deserved pay rise, as I witnessed each day their hard work and sacrifice to protect our communities through their public service.
“The same applies to our frontline NHS workers. Doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other staff working in health and social care are working hard every day supporting local patients and residents. Recognising the pressures that these services are under, I have been clear that we need new investment and resources in Essex delivered to the frontline to ensure that the sector has the money and resources to do what it needs – providing the care they really believe in to members of the public, and this includes healthcare workers being paid fairly for their important work.”
East of England Ambulance Service Chief Executive Tom Abell said: “It was a pleasure to welcome Priti to Chelmsford. We discussed a range of issues, including the pressure we have been experiencing on our service, the work we are doing to make the ambulance service a better place to work and the opportunities for greater collaboration across emergency services to improve the way we care for the communities of Essex.”
