Welsh Ambulance Service to host virtual Board meeting next week

The Welsh Ambulance Service is preparing to host the next in a series of virtual public Board meetings.

Executive and Non-Executive Directors will convene once again via Zoom next Thursday 30 July, and the public and stakeholders are invited to attend and participate.

It will also be streamed live on Facebook, where last month’s meeting had 11,000 views.

Participants will get to hear from one of the Trust’s Nurse Advisors, who will share her experience of working for the 111 service through the Coronavirus pandemic.

Questions for the Board can be pre-submitted in advance and posed in real time on Zoom and Facebook.

Martin Woodford, chair of the Welsh Ambulance Service, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic effectively forced us into hosting our Board meetings virtually, but we’re actually finding that more people are engaging with us than ever before.

“The Q&A session at last month’s meeting worked really well and allowed us to cover off all sorts of topics, including volunteering, recruitment and more.

“That’s why we’re opening the virtual floor once again for questions, and will endeavour to answer as many as we can during the course of the meeting.

“As a public service, openness and transparency is important to us, and this is our way of demonstrating our commitment to building accountability and trust.”

Estelle Hitchon, director of partnerships and engagement, added: “Our Board meetings also enable us to hear from first-hand from patients and colleagues to help us better understand what it’s like at the receiving end of our service and on the frontline of delivery.

“We’re fortunate to be joined at the next meeting by a Nurse Advisor, who actually left the NHS in January after 28 years but who re-joined as part of our ‘Call to Arms’ for people to support us through the pandemic.

“She’ll be reflecting on her experience with 111 over the last couple of months, in what promises to be a really interesting and insightful session.”

The Board meeting on Thursday 30 July begins at 9.30am.  Click here to register your place on Zoom or watch it live on the Trust’s Facebook page.

The full agenda will be available on the Trust’s website in the coming days.

You can pre-submit a question by emailing [email protected] by no later than close of play on Tuesday 28 July.