Paid volunteers could help tackle ambulance response times in Norfolk
The idea - from North Norfolk District Council - could see more first responders on duty around the county
Volunteers should be paid to help deal with 999 calls during busy periods, to help tackle the crisis in ambulance response times in north Norfolk, councillors have suggested.
The idea, which was raised at a North Norfolk District Council meeting, would see volunteers paid for attending to people before paramedics can reach them.
High ambulance response times have been an ongoing concern in the area, which suffers from some of the longest waits in the country.
While north Norfolk already has a group of volunteers called ‘community first responders’ (CFR) who attend emergency calls, they are currently unpaid.
At the meeting on Wednesday, Wendy Fredericks, councillor for Mundesley, told care bosses they were “missing a trick” and more people would sign-up if they were treated more like retained firefighters.
These are firefighters who are given training but only attended the fire station when they have an emergency callout, with payment for any work undertaken.
She said: “You would get more people signing up because our CFRs have to do other jobs or are retired. There’s a limit to what they can do.”
Ms Fredericks said CFRs currently have to pay for their own courses, books and equipment.
By investing in the community, Ms Fredericks said it would mean people would be able to get support earlier and avoid either needing to go to the hospital or stay there as long.
Marcus Bailey, the chief operating officer of the East of England Ambulance Trust (EEAST) said he “did not disagree” and said CFRs could be important, for example in getting defibrillators to patients in need as quickly as possible.
However, he said the service needed to take incremental steps, with the trust looking to cover CFR’s petrol mileage first.
He also said EEAST is looking into a volunteer scheme for staff who have offered to respond while not at work.
Mr Bailey and Ross Collett from the Integrated Care Board (ICB) said they were continuing to look at ways to cut response times, with new trials for rapid drop-off of patients at hospitals so ambulances could be freed up.
Mr Collett said the health service continued to suffer from staffing-related issues, with the number of Covid infections rising and long-term issues around burnout.