EXTRA ambulances and more staff are set to be on the road until Easter.

NHS England has produced a list of key actions for the East of England Ambulance NHS Service Trust (EEAST) to take following a risk summit.

The meeting came after a number of concerns were raised over the trust's response times over the Christmas period including Clacton pensioner Marie Norris, 81, waiting four hours for a response after complaining of chest pains.

When they arrived she was found dead.

The key actions for the trust are:

  • Deploy additional staff and vehicles between now and Easter. This will include securing additional vehicles from independent providers
  • Improve ability to forecast demand as part of strengthened winter planning
  •  Take steps to improve staff availability at peak times, including action to improve staff health through flu vaccination and reviewing the Trust’s leave policy
  •  Local hospitals will be asked to accept prompt handover of patients from ambulance crews in order to release the crews for other calls
  •  Improve its internal escalation procedures to deal with periods of high pressure n CCGs and other providers of NHS care across the region will implement measures to moderate the use of ambulance services, using safe alternatives wherever possible
  • Any serious incidents that occurred over the winter period will be subject to a thorough review process to ascertain whether patients were harmed.

A spokesman for the ambulance service said: "EEAST and its NHS system partners will work together on actions to further improve joint plans for current and future services.

"The summit identified a number of actions that were needed to secure greater resilience for regional ambulance services.

"Some of these actions are for EEAST and some actions are for the wider NHS.

"We welcome the feedback from this summit and will be working closely with partners and staff to meet the actions.

"The Trust always wants to learn how it can improve the service we provide to patients.

"Each of the potentially serious incidents recorded while the Trust was experiencing high levels of demand are being investigated internally.

"These will also be thoroughly and independently reviewed to ascertain whether patients were harmed. This will be concluded by Easter.

"The families concerned will be the first to be informed of the findings of their loved one’s cases.

"In the interests of patient safety and to ensure the rigour of the review, the list of potentially serious incidents highlighted by MPs will be shared with us and included in the review."