Release Date : Tuesday 1 June 2010
The Cabinet Secretary for Health & Wellbeing, Nicola Sturgeon, today formally opened the Scottish Ambulance Service’s new 999 Emergency Medical Dispatch Centre (EMDC) in South Queensferry.
The Edinburgh centre sits alongside NHS24 in Norseman House, handling emergency calls and dispatching ambulances across Lothian & Borders, Forth Valley, Fife and Tayside.
Eighty-six highly trained staff are based in the new Edinburgh EMDC, providing a crucial role in dispatching ambulances and giving advice to callers while the ambulance is on its way to the patient.
During the visit, Ms Sturgeon met with Scottish Ambulance Service staff and was introduced to Hamish Mackinnon, an 11 year-old from Musselburgh who last year survived a cardiac arrest thanks to the actions of the EMDC call taker and the ambulance crew who responded. Hamish was today reunited with the team that helped him on that day.
Nicola Sturgeon, Cabinet Secretary for Health & Wellbeing, said:
“The Scottish Ambulance Service is an integral and valued part of Scotland’s health service. Moving the emergency medical dispatch centre to the same site as NHS 24 will help them continue to provide the efficient and effective service that patients and callers need. It will also further support and enhance the close partnership working between the two organisations.”
Pauline Howie, Chief Executive, Scottish Ambulance Service, said:
“Our ability to answer 999 calls and dispatch the most appropriate response is vitally important. It is essential that we operate from facilities that are both fit for purpose and designed to meet our future needs. The new EMDC facility in Edinburgh provides a modern workplace environment for staff who are using the latest technology and has been specifically designed to meet their needs.
“The move into Norseman House means that in all of our three EMDC’s we are co-located with NHS 24, which ensures speedy transfer of patients when required.”
John Turner, Chief Executive of NHS 24, said:
“The co-location of NHS 24 and Scottish Ambulance Service staff at our Glasgow base since Autumn 2008 has already proved to be an excellent example of where joint working in the NHS can help to improve the patient experience. We expect that the joint working at our east contact centre will mirror this success and the sharing of both facilities and knowledge in this way can only lead to further improvements in patient care.”
The initiative is part of a phased £2.6 million plan to upgrade all of the three Scottish Ambulance Service 999 Emergency Medical Dispatch Centres that started in 2008 when the Scottish Ambulnce Service moved its Paisley EMDC to Cardonald, alongside NHS 24 and Glasgow’s Out of Hours service. The EMDC in Inverness has for some time been co-located with NHS 24 and local Out Of Hours service and is currently being upgraded and expanded as part of the development programme.
The Edinburgh EMDC dispatched emergency ambulance resources to 156,958 emergency incidents last year in response to calls from the public, clinicians and other agencies.
