Thinking the Unthinkable - the fifth #ProjectA tweet chat

What 'rules' - things that get in the way of giving great care, and that stop ambulance staff doing their jobs well - could be broken? This was the focus of the fifth and final of the #ProjectA tweet chats. 

During a lively conversation, participants suggested innovations that could make the care that ambulance staff provide dramatically better, and the jobs that ambulance staff do significantly easier. 

The themes of the conversation include: 

-Data sharing

-Effective use of resources

-Improving ambulance resources

-Bypassing the emergency department

-Training and wellbeing

-Improving technology

-Rotation

-Involving patients and the public

-Thinking the unthinkable!

You can read more in the summary report.

The previous four tweet chats were: partnerships with patients and the public; patient pathways; wellbeing; and working together across urgent and emergency care.

What's next?

The ideas platform is open until 3 September 2018. Hundreds of brilliant, innovative ideas have already been posted - if you haven't yet joined in please do - no idea is too small, or too daft!

After the ideas platform has closed, a group of people and critical friends drawn from the ambulance service, partner organisations and the public will be looking at the hundreds of ideas and collate a ‘long list’ of ideas. This long list will then be ready for testing by frontline colleagues through an ‘Innovation Burst’ on 26 and 27 September. 

Keep an eye out for future news using #ProjectA.

About #ProjectA

#ProjectA was initiated by Simon Stevens, the Chief Executive of NHS England, after he spent time with ambulance crews in London and the Midlands. Simon identified the potential for frontline ambulance staff to play a much bigger role in innovation, service redesign and problem solving. He has asked the NHS Horizons team to work with the Association of Ambulance Chief Officers (AACE) to develop a year-long initiative that supports and builds on the excellent work that is underway in many parts of the system and builds on the ideas and energy of frontline ambulance staff.

The ambition is to identify at least four major change ideas that can be developed, prototyped and implemented by frontline staff across all ten ambulance trusts, in time to start making a difference in winter 2018/19. The whole ethos and approach of #ProjectA is one of co-production and collaborative decision making.