News


Fun starts now as araction


reveals events KENT LIFE is promising a fun- filled programme throughout 2018. As well as old favourites, the


Sandling-based attraction has a number of newfamily events, such as a hops and harvest festival in September, and a zombie takeover in the build-up to Halloween. The fun kicks off during the Feb-


ruary half-term,with lambing days and a number of shows in the big top. Bugs and grubs come into focus


on March 17 and 18, with the op- portunity to visit the creepy critter cuddle corner and learn about the work of a local beekeeper. The Easter bunnywill be visiting


from March 30 to April 2, before the quintessential May Day tradi- tions come to life fromMay 5 to 7. Farmyard fairytales are the


theme for theMay half-term, with the family dog showon June 24. Kent Life goes to the seaside


throughout the summer holidays, with an ice cream festival on Au- gust bank holiday. For admission prices and more


details visit www.kentlife.org.uk or call 01622 763936.


downsmail.co.uk


999 – call back later if the patient getsworse


THE ambulance service in Kent has been asking some emergency callers to assess the condition of a patient and to call back if there is a deterioration in their condition. The responsibility this puts on un-


qualified relatives and friends is being taken up by the GP-ledWest Kent Clinical Commissioning Group. The chief executive of South East


Coast Ambulance Service (SE- CAmb) has been asked to attend and report to the group’s governing body. The group is concerned about the


impact on west Kent patients, ‘par- ticularly around life threatening in- cidents’. A report to the group also ques-


tioned the “openness and trans- parency” of SECAmb to callers aroundwaiting times. Patientswere being asked if “they have exhausted all options and advice and to ring backwhen there is adeterioration in condition”. This is the latest episode in a long series of problems for SECAmb,


Concerns are being looked into over changes to SECAmb priorities Picture: SECAmb


which have led to it being placed in special measures by the national CareQuality Commission (CQC). A spokesman for SECAmb told


DownsMail: “Alongwith all ambu- lance serviceswe have been and re- main very busy. All calls are triaged based on the


information provided by the caller and we prioritise our response to ourmost seriously-ill or life-threat- ened patients. Where callers need


ongoing advice prior to the arrival of ambulance clinicians,wewill re- main on the linewith them. “When a call is triaged, the caller


will be told the outcome andwhich priority of call they have been as- signed. “When concluding a call, the


caller will be given advice and told to call back if the patient’s condition worsens. “We recognise there is a lotmore


work to be done, both here and in less serious calls, to further improve our response time performance. “We are committed to improving


the time it takes for us to answer calls and have an ongoing recruit- ment campaign to increase the number of emergency medical ad- visers in our emergency operations centres. “We expect overall performance


to improve from this encouraging start as we further refine our fleet and operational model, working with commissioners as part of our ‘joint demand and capacity re- view’.”


18


Malling February 2018


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