ANNUAL REPORT
2020|2021
WELCOME
directors Chairman and Non Executive Directors Lena Samuels Mike Hawker* Les Broude* Nigel Chapman* Sumit Biswas Dr Priya Singh Dr Anne Stebbing Ian Green*
Welcome to our annual review for 2020-2021. This has been a year like no other dominated by the Covid pandemic which had a huge impact on the Charity and the way it was able to operate. Despite the many challenges and the changes to our working environment, the role of the Charity and its response in supporting South Central Ambulance Service staff and volunteers became even more urgent and important.
Executive Directors William Hancock Charles Porter Paul Kempster Professor Helen Young Mike Murphy* Dr John Black Melanie Saunders Jane Campbell
Our aim continues to be to support our staff and volunteers in delivering excellent patient care across our region and we do this by funding additional equipment and training. We also support our teams by enhancing their working environment.
CFR Governor David Ross*
As always we are indebted to all our supporters who throughout the year fundraise for us and donate to enable us to support the ambulance service. This year we must in particular thank NHS Charities Together, the umbrella organisation for NHS charities for their support. The funding realised by the national Covid campaign and the grants awarded to our Charity have enabled us to support our staff and volunteers, develop services and to provide some much needed motivational support to our teams.
This year we were unable to go ahead with our annual Community First Responder Conference which had become a regular highlight of our year. Instead like many others, we took to Teams and met virtually with our colleagues.
Charity Chief Executive Officer Vanessa Casey
*M embers of the Charitable Funds Committee
Our ambulance service has played a pivotal role in the response to the pandemic and we are delighted to have been able to support our staff and volunteers during these most challenging times.
Major Emma Allen, MBE Cover: Paul Hughes, Community First Responder, Reading Berkshire
Officer Commanding 228 (Armoured) Signal Squadron, 3rd (United Kingdom) Division Signal Regiment and Military Co-Responder
Thank you. Vanessa Casey, CEO Nigel Chapman, Chair, Charitable Funds Committee
ANNUAL REPORT 2019|2020
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overview South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) works across Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Hampshire with our Patient Transport Service also extending in to Surrey and Sussex. With a residential population of over 7 million the SCAS Charity seeks to fund the increasingly important role of our Community First Responders and staff in all of these areas.
The Charity h as
3
key objectives
To provide the training, equipment and uniform for our cohort of Community First Responders and Co-Responders; to continue building awareness of life-saving skills and the use of defibrillators in schools and communities and to support SCAS staff with new equipment and better working environments supporting areas not funded by NHS funding. The demand for services is increasing every year but in January 2020 the first phase of the NHS’ preparation and response to Covid 19 was triggered with the declaration of a Level 4 National Incident. With the arrival of Covid 19 SCAS staff across all its services had to make rapid and significant changes to operational processes and service delivery. SCAS Charity also had to adapt and focus its fundraising attention in different ways as well as helping out where we could in supporting our staff and volunteers.
Right: These images are a very powerful view of the pandemic as seen by our staff. The photographer Emma Williams worked initially for Oxfordshire Ambulance Service and then SCAS for 26 years first in the emergency operations control room and then as paramedic after qualifying in 2000.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2019|2020
The impact of the pandemic was felt immediately with the loss of events and community engagement opportunities. Community fundraising, had for some years been the mainstay of our income with our CFRs actively engaged in their local communities. Like others we had to move towards having a greater digital presence and reviewing our fundraising plan for the year. The national outpouring of support for the NHS did however, mean that expected funds were replaced by our own appeals and support from the national membership body NHS Charities Together.
She began to take her photography seriously around eight years ago and during the Summer of 2020 Emma decided to capture what it was like delivering emergency ambulance care in the COVID 19 era. This is a selection of her images from that time.
Our Impact What we achieved this year As always our main focus has been on supporting our Community First Responders and Co-Responders. CFRs continued to play a key role and while some of our volunteers had to temporarily stand down from duty in the first part of the year others continued to respond throughout. ‘ it’s fantastic to see the Dacia Duster take on such an important role and witness how confident the Trust and its volunteers are in its ability. We’re delighted that the Duster is the perfect fit for the challenging requirements of saving lives, and supporting the local community.’
CFRs were also redeployed in to new volunteer roles, some being trained to despatch CFRs from the Emergency Operations Centre; others bringing a fleet of black cabs down from London to enable our Patient Transport Service to safely transport patients to medical appointments. Our CFRs also started manning our ‘teapot’ service, providing much needed refreshments for crews waiting at A&E and unable to leave their patients.
We were supported by so many new organisations during the year, members of the public who donated gifts and messages for our crews. There are too many to mention but the Charity was delighted to be able to distribute donated coffee, salads, soft drinks, easter eggs and hand cream to name but a few of the items we received. These gifts were incredibly motivational for our staff and volunteers during this time. Thank you to everyone for thinking of us.
Later than planned but none the less welcomed was the roll out of our new fleet of 40 Dacia Dusters for our Community First Responders. Over the last eighteen months we have worked closely with the team at Dacia UK, our own South Central Fleet Services and the team at BCA in Southampton.
NHS Charities Together, the national membership body supporting all NHS charities, immediately began distributing funds received from the Covid appeal and initially these funds supported our staff and volunteers health and wellbeing. Ensuring staff and volunteers still had access to refreshments while out on the road, were able to take breaks and were valued for the incredible work they were doing became paramount. Grants received from NHS Charities Together enabled us to fund vacuum flasks for staff and seasonal hampers for all our teams.
We are enormously grateful to them all for their support with this project. We were able to celebrate the launch with all 40 vehicles on the track at Thruxton Race Circuit in July.
Luke Broad, Dacia Duster Brand Director UK & Ireland
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Our Stories We started the new financial year uncertain how much impact the pandemic would have on our Charity. And of course, we didn’t know that 18 months on we would still be faced with some of the same issues. We launched a public appeal in May, thanking everyone for their generous gifts of everything from biscuits and chocolate to toilet rolls and soap to support our teams. But the fact remained that without money coming in to the Charity we would not be able to continue to equip our incredibly important volunteer workforce. And now more than ever, they were needed on the frontline to support patient care. We knew these were financially uncertain times for so many people but we were incredibly grateful to all those that donated and left messages of thanks and support for our crews and volunteers.
Community First Responder in Tadley, Hampshire
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ANNUAL REPORT 2019|2020
My name is Sam & I am a Project Manager for PwC, based in Milton Keynes. I started volunteering for South Central Ambulance Charity in February 2021 after looking for a way to give back to my local community.
Sam is one of a number of Community First Responders who have joined us over the last year. All our CFRS have been at the forefront of providing emergency patient care during the pandemic.
The role of a CFR is to play an integral part in assisting the Ambulance Service to reach our most time critical and poorly patients.
‘ Thank you so much for your professional care. Your excellent interpersonal skills helped me in an emergency. You helped reassure me and really took the time to make sure I was ok. I’m so grateful.’
Kiri Baker Kent
CFR Sam Mills
‘ My partner was in severe pain and needed to be seen urgently. An ambulance crew were prompt when responding to my call to 111 and I think they are brave and courageous doing their job.’
In my younger days, I always had dreams of working for the ambulance service in one form or another, but life took a different turn and I was unable to pursue that dream. Having discovered the role of a CFR I felt it was the perfect way to give back to people in their time of need & I was right. I work full time, but take advantage of flexible working hours to enable me to give around 20 hours a month responding to 999 calls for the ambulance service, I often split my workday up to achieve this as well as giving the odd evening or weekend day.
Their ability to do this greatly improves those patients’ chances of survival and long-term recovery. Our volunteers are committed to helping members of their community and surrounding areas and are a vital part of our service. CFRs are trained and equipped to deal with the whole range of life-threatening incidents and medical conditions such as heart attacks, cardiac arrest, asthma, diabetes and epilepsy. They are also trained to provide frontline treatment to patients suffering from a non-injury fall and incidents classed as a concern for welfare.
In conjunction with our Urgent Care Desk, CFRs often attend emergencies and manage the whole incident without need for extra resources being sent. Alongside medical intervention, CFRs also play a vital role in the provision of much needed reassurance and support to patients and relatives during very difficult circumstances.
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CFR Governor David Ross My Pandemic
Mark Jones Community First Responder, Wokingham, Berkshire
My name is David Ross. I became a CFR in 2014 when I was living in Wokingham following a visit to the office of a charity befriending elderly and vulnerable people where I was a volunteer. My contact was wearing a CFR uniform and was called out during my visit. I was immediately impressed by their professionalism and response, such that I investigated and chose to become a CFR myself. I’m proud to wear the uniform and on many occasions I’m first on scene to trauma and serious medical incidents. My regret is that I didn’t know about volunteering for SCAS earlier. Many friends and patients that I meet tell me how amazing and good it is that I and others volunteer in this way. However, I get more from volunteering than I give and I’m humbled to meet so many amazing people; some on the worst day of their lives. My first call out was to a gentleman who had a cardiac arrest whilst I was on scene; my training kicked in and I was quickly backed up by a crew becoming part of a team that saved the man’s life. That feeling has never left me and I have contributed to good outcomes for many other patients. In late 2015 I relocated to Chineham, north Basingstoke, and was surprised to find that the nearest group was some miles away in South Basingstoke. I received support from SCAS and the Charity to set up the Chineham group, for which I’m co-ordinator. I’m humbled to have mentored 3 members of my team to become frontline workers; I myself joined Patient Transport earlier this year, a role I wish I’d taken earlier as I really enjoy it. In early 2020 when COVID-19 came along, we were very aware that this was a dangerous virus, but I and many CFRs chose to continue our volunteering as we were needed more than ever to support our frontline 999 colleagues. I was shocked to go to one family 4 times and administer high levels of oxygen; on each occasion a family member was rushed to the emergency department. In January 2021 I myself contracted COVID and became very poorly. I called my Community Engagement and Training Officer and asked for advice as my oxygen levels were very low... ‘Either you call the ambulance or I will!’ was his advice.
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‘ Such great work in the community, a big thank you, although we hope never to need your services!’
I was taken to Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital where I was admitted and spent the next 12 days on high levels of oxygen; 48 hours were touch and go whether I went into ICU. There is no doubt that my life was saved by the fantastic team of nurses, doctors and health care professionals. Many people have asked whether I got COVID as a CFR, but I believe I was more at risk shopping in my local supermarket. I personally believe that I got it in the community.
As CFRs this year we have had requests to get involved in additional projects to support the pandemic.
In June 2020 a call was put out for CFRs to drive London taxis from North London to Southampton. We brought down around 50 taxis for our Patient Transport Service colleagues to be able to move patients around whilst maintaining safe separation. Today we provide support to frontline colleagues at hospitals with “Operation Teapot” where we run refreshments from a welfare vehicle providing tea, coffee, water and light refreshments to crews who are delayed at A&E departments waiting to handover their patients.
‘ Thank you for the help and reassurance the First Responder gave to me and my wife when she was taken ill recently. Keep up the good work.’
‘ Your amazing work never fails to amaze. The everyday challenges you overcome mean the continuance of so many lives. Thank you.’
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Fundraising
Nikhyta Patel Community First Responder, Southampton, Hampshire
Like many things fundraising this year was different to previous years. Public support for the NHS was enormous and generous and many supporters responded to the idea of creating their own virtual challenges and events, taking part in garden marathons, virtual Everest treks, runs, walks and cycling challenges. Team Brooker, led by SCAS Team Leader Chris, ran a garden marathon, a fun family activity during the first lockdown. CFR Mark Potts took on a more serious challenge virtually walking the Thames towpath, part of which runs near his home. A total of 186 miles walked over 42 days, a fantastic achievement. Continuing the endurance theme Seb Ashton virtually climbed Everest!
This year we launched a new virtual challenge, Outrun an Ambulance. Created by South Western Ambulance Charity from an idea originally conceived by SWASFT Emergency Care Assistant Shannon Witts. Participants are challenged to cover one mile more than the average mileage an ambulance covers in a 12 hour shift. Our event only started in March so as the year came to a close we were delighted to have sixteen intrepid challengers already signed up. Another new event this year was the Spinnaker Abseil. An event for the brave who abseiled the iconic Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth. A group of forty staff, volunteers and members of the public signed up for the event scheduled for April. Another casualty of the early days of Covid we were determined to try and make this happen for our fantastic fundraisers who had already raised over £15,000. On a windy day in September, six months later they finally descended the 100 metre drop. Congratulations and thank you to all of them.
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SCAS staff and volunteers really rose to the challenge this year. Not only continuing to fulfil their increasingly demanding jobs during the pandemic but also by fundraising to support the Charity. Lucy Tidey, from our Patient Transport Team completed a half marathon walking from Galley Hill in Bexhill to Beachy Head in Eastbourne, while Hannah Holt, age 8 covered 5k to support her mum who is a volunteer Community First Responder for SCAS. CFR Matt Lovegrove organised a series of quiz nights on Facebook to support his local community and bring everyone together and Southampton CFR Claire Hill braved the Shave for her favourite cause.
We cannot thank all of our supporters enough for everything they have done this year. Your enthusiasm and willingness to take on a new challenge and raise money for the Charity this year have enabled us to support our staff and to recruit, train and equip more Community First Responders.
Thank you
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Our year in numbers
26% Donations 35% Other income
29% NHS charities together grants 10% Other grants
Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2021
EXPENDITURE
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
2020 -21 total funds
329
66
395
Incoming resources Donations and Legacies Other incoming resources
164
0
164
Total incoming resources
493
66
559
Resources expended Charitable expenditure Activities in furtherance of charity’s objectives Costs of generating funds
£
INCOME
(556)
(26)
(582)
(4)
0
(4)
(26)
(586)
Total resources expended Net incoming/(outgoing) resources
(67)
40
(27)
Fund balances brought forward as at 1st April 2020
373
73
446
Fund balances carried forward at 31st March 2021
306
113
419
42% CFR equipment and vehicles
35,716
28% Internal grants and projects
emergency 999
7% Other expenditure
incidents attended
22% Management recharges 0.5% Governance costs 0.5% Costs of generating funds
1,174
Community First
& Co-Responders
Fire Co-Responders
active Community First Responders
incidents
2,317
there were 2,294
Military & Police
registered public access defibrillators
supports our improving out of
hospital cardiac arrest survival rates of 13.9% this is one of the highest
in the country ANNUAL REPORT 2019|2020
24,821
5,442
Across the SCAS area we now have
occasions during the year where CPR was in progress prior to the arrival of an ambulance, which
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Responders
incidents Co-Responders
453 incidents
If you would like to find out more you can contact us at:
info@sca-charity.org.uk www.scascharity.org.uk South Central Ambulance Charity, Station Yard, Thame, Oxon OX9 3UH
Registered Charity No: 1049778
South Central Ambulance Service
NHS Foundation Trust