BCAS responds to Auditor General criticism
The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) in British Columbia (BC), Canada, issued a report on the aerial operations of the BC Ambulance Service (BCAS) on 21 March, saying that the province ‘does not know whether its air ambulance services are meeting patient needs’. In response, BCAS said that it is taking steps to implement the recommendations contained in the report.
The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) in British Columbia (BC), Canada, issued a report on the aerial operations of the BC Ambulance Service (BCAS) on 21 March, saying that the province ‘does not know whether its air ambulance services are meeting patient needs’.
Releasing the report, Auditor General John Doyle stated that BCAS could be doing more to ensure that its air ambulance services deliver timely, quality and safe patient care. He continued: “Air ambulance services have a direct impact on peoples’ lives. We expected to find that the BC Ambulance Service was defining, monitoring and improving standards for its air ambulance service, but that was not the case.”
The report, Striving for Timely, Quality and Safe Patient Care: An Audit of Air Ambulance Services in BC, looked at whether the BC Ambulance Service has defined service standards for effective patient care. It found that while it has introduced processes to improve the timeliness and quality of air responses, BCAS has not defined objectives or tracked its performance, said the OAG. Doyle asserted: “If the BC Ambulance Service had comprehensive performance management practices in place, it could identify issues, improve performance and report results to stakeholders for its air ambulance service.”
The report alleges that the BC Ambulance Service could do more to ensure it provides aircraft and paramedics based on patient needs. Although the report recognises that BCAS takes known business needs into account when awarding aircraft contracts, and considers patient condition and other factors when dispatching its services, the document also suggest that an overall assessment of service demands could help the BCAS to operate more effectively. Commented Doyle: “Taking a look at whether it has paramedics and aircraft in the right locations and regularly reviewing dispatch decisions could help the BCAS improve its air ambulance service.”
In response, BCAS said that it is taking steps to implement the recommendations contained in the report. Les Fisher, BCAS chief operating officer, explained: “BCAS appreciates the efforts of the OAG throughout the audit of this component of our service. We actively participated in the process to ensure the findings would be of maximum benefit to patients, our service, staff and the healthcare system. We thank the OAG for their valuable input and have already addressed many of the audit findings. We are committed to implementing components of the audit findings by the end of 2013 with full implementation complete by March 2015.”
BCAS said the audit’s conclusions support the Service’s philosophy of continuous improvement to patient care and are consistent with efforts to develop its air ambulance component into a service that is strategically focussed, actively manages performance and is outcome driven. Fisher added: “BCAS personnel are committed to providing quality, timely and safe patient care. As recommended in the OAG report, BCAS is currently developing concrete service standards and improving data collection to provide the information needed to monitor performance and make evidence-based changes.”