On Saturday, 18 November, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, accompanied by Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Laura Trott MBE, visited the Blue Light Hub in Milton Keynes.
Mark Begley, Head of Operations Emergency and Urgent Care (Milton Keynes and Aylesbury Vale), was on hand to welcome the visitors from HM Treasury to Milton Keynes, alongside colleagues from Thames Valley Police and Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service who are also based at the Hub.
Mark said: “We had a very useful and informative meeting with the chancellor and chief secretary where we talked about how the hub operates as a base for three emergency services, and how it had enhanced each service’s understanding of the roles of the other two which ultimately ensures our patients get even better care whatever the emergency we are called to.
“The discussion then moved on to the burden of administration we sometimes all feel, and how further investment in IT and infrastructure will help modernise and improve operations and allow our staff to really focus on their core skills and responsibilities.”
After the meeting, Mr Hunt and Ms Trott spent time talking with staff from all three emergency services in the Hub canteen before being taking on a guided tour of the three service areas in the building. In the SCAS operational area, they were particularly interested in the hospital handover screen where team leader, Paul Evans, explained how SCAS uses the real-time data feeds on the screen to monitor hospital activity and provide additional support should patient handover delays begin to rise.
Mark added: “It was a pleasure showing our visitors around our fantastic tri-service base in Milton Keynes and we were impressed with how interested in, and knowledgeable about, our three emergency services they were. I was more than happy to extend a further invitation to them to come back and spend a day on shift with one of our ambulance crews and I hope they take us up on that offer in the future.”
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