Present (in the room)

• Prof Ian Cumming – Chairman of the Board of Directors
• Anthony Marsh – Chief Executive Office
• Karen Rutter – Director of Finance
• Caron Eyre – Director of Nursing
• Muhammed Khan – Bishop Flemming – Trust Auditors
• Phil Higgins – Trust Secretary
• Suzie Wheaton – Governor and Membership Engagement Manager

The membership and Board of Directors had been invited to attend via Microsoft Teams

Minutes

25/01 – Welcome, Introductory Remarks

The Chair opened the meeting by welcoming everyone. He then outlined the agenda for the meeting and noted that the agenda, minutes from last years meeting, membership figures and annual report and accounts have all been published on the Trust website. www.wmas.nhs.uk

One of the great delights of being Chairman of WMAS is the opportunities I get to spend time with staff hearing about their work and seeing the difference they make to patients.  While it is often quoted that staff are the most important part of any organisation, I can say that that is 100% true of our Trust.  Whichever part of the Trust they work in, they all contribute in their own way to supporting patient care.

The chairman highlighted the changes to the Board during 2024/25. WMAS welcomed two NEDs, Suzanne Banks and Sukh Nat and one Executive Director – Richard Steyn who formally took on the role of medical director.

He thanked all the staff, students and volunteers for their hard work and tremendous achievements. The chairman also thanked the governors who dedicate their time freely to the service, as do all our volunteers. It is very much appreciated.

25/02 – Apologies

No apologies were received

25/03 – Declarations of Interest

There were no declarations made at the meeting in relation to a conflict of interest with any matters to be dealt with at the meeting.

25/04 – Minutes of the previous Annual Meeting that took place on 31^st July 2024

25/05 – The Chief Executive Officer to present the Annual Report for the period 01 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 and also the future service development plans of the Foundation Trust.

The Chief Executive Officer presented the Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Foundation Trust, which included the Annual Governance Statement.

The Chief Executive Officer began by thanking colleagues and staff throughout the organisation in all departments, all Trust volunteers including CFRs, Governors. He thanked the auditors for their ongoing advice, as well as partners in the wider NHS

The Chief Executive presented a number of slides on the annual report.

At the conclusion of the presentation, the Chief Executive commended the Annual Report of the West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust for the financial year 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 to the Annual Meeting.

25/06 – Annual Accounts

The Director of Finance presented the Annual Accounts for the period 01 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.

At the conclusion of the presentation, the Director of Finance commended the Annual Accounts of the West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust to the Annual Meeting.

25/07 – Report from the Auditors on the Annual Report and Accounts of the Foundation Trust for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025

Mr Muhammad Khan (Bishop Flemming) the Trusts Auditor was in attendance and reported on the outcome of their audit of both the Annual Report and Accounts.

The Auditors commended their report to the Governors and the Membership.

25/08 – The Quality Account

The Director of Nursing presented the Trust performance against the 2024/25 Quality Account and the priorities for the Board of Directors for 2025/26. 

At the conclusion of the presentation, the Director of Nursing commended the Quality Account of the West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust to the Annual Meeting.

25/09 – Report from the Lead Governor to the membership on behalf of the Council of Governors

Eileen Cox, Lead Governor and Public Governor (Staffordshire) presented her report.

On behalf of the Council of Governors, I would like to begin by acknowledging the amazing efforts that have been made by all staff throughout West Midlands Ambulance Service.   This year, like no other, the leadership of the Board and the work carried out by all staff, students and volunteers within the whole organisation has been nothing but extraordinary.

Hospital handover delays have been a significant risk for the Trust. Governors have been well informed of the situation throughout the year through regular meeting with the chief executive officer and the chairman, and we are aware of the continuous dialogue and various initiatives that have been put in place in a bid to relieve some of the pressures of these huge delays.

It is pleasing to see that the Trust continues to have the best call answering service in the country and has made great strides with “Hear and Treat”, which has inevitably helped to ease some of the pressures on ambulance crews and hospital delays. These pressures really can take their toll on all staff throughout the Organisation, and therefore, we champion the many health and wellbeing initiatives that have been introduced into the Trust over the years to help those staff who may need some assistance.

This year the Trust welcomed two new Non-Executive Directors to the Board, Suzanne Banks on 1^st April 2024 and Sukh Nat on 5^th November 2024, following competitive interview processes, led by the Governors. The Council of Governors have been pleased to see both new NEDS settle so well into their roles at the Trust.

It would be impossible to highlight all of the excellent work that has been carried out throughout the whole organisation in this short statement, so on behalf of the Council of Governors, I would once again like to thank all the staff within West Midlands Ambulance Service for everything they do to ensure our patients receive the best possible care!

25/09 – Opportunity for the Governors, Membership, and the Public to ask questions on the reports made at the Annual Meeting.

William Read asked:  We have heard at previous AGMs and today’s meeting that the greatest risk to the Trust and its patients are the continuing handover delays. He understood that of the Ambulance Trusts in England, WMAS and one other Trust suffer excessive delays. The other Ambulance Trusts do not suffer such delays in their areas of operation. Why is it that other areas seem to not have delays and the WMAS and one other Trust does when all nationally all Acutes and Ambulance Service are working to a national procedures that operate within the WMAS region, yet they seem to escape these difficulties (delays). Can you explain why this is so?

The CEO thanked William Read for his question and stated that handover delays have plagued the whole of the Midland’s region, not just the West Midlands for a number of years. The CEO stated that he had expressed concern about the increasing volume of handover delays pre-covid so it is not new and has failed to be adequately addressed. The CEO did say that, as set out in his presentation to the meeting earlier, it was not every hospital in the WMAS region it was a handful of Acutes most days and they need to resolve the problem. To assure you that as far as this Ambulance Service is concerned and the East Midlands as well there is nothing we are doing in terms of patient services that is out of alignment with the other eight ambulance services across our country. Although having said that the Trust does have the highest hear and treat rates, and the second lowest conveyance rates to an acute. There is nothing that this Trust is doing that conveys a disproportionate number of patients to hospital. Given the obvious risks to the public and our patients in terms of harm the Trust and the Board have raised its concerns at the highest level, as the Trust and the Board do not accept this position. The Trust’s former Nursing Director had publicly raised this as a serious issue in terms of harm to patients and staff morale.

The Trust also worked with the CCGs, then the ICBs and also the NHSE Region to ensure they worked to the planning guidance issued by the NHSE. We will continue to do all we can as an ambulance service in the interests of patient safety and will also continue to do the right thing that is within our power as an ambulance service. We will also hold to account the ICBs and the Region to do all they can to comply with the planning guidance and release the ambulance crews queuing to off load patients so that they can respond to other patients waiting in the community.

The Chairman indicated that this issue is not the sole responsibility of the emergency departments as they are usually full themselves, so it is not just the capacity in the emergency department. The emergency department are awaiting bed availability for those patients that need to be in hospital. In addition the acute is also waiting to move patients that are well enough to be discharged to free up beds either home or into some form of community support or step down care. This means that the emergency department is full and has no capacity to accept patients conveyed. So it is delayed patient flow through the hospital. The Chairman in support of the comments of the CEO stated that this problem relates consistently to only a few acutes in region. There are some hospitals which rarely have issues with handover delays and if they do it is clear there is a problem with pressure and demand in the system. Handover delays is a consistently significant risk on the Board’s Assurance Framework which is considered at each meeting of the Board and the mitigation the Trust is putting in place to mitigate risk and also the representations being made by the CEO and the executive directors of the Trust. It is a fact that there are some regions in the country that this isn’t a problem but this region does.

Mr Read responded to say that in the response the reference was made to English ambulance services, and asked if there were any lessons to be learnt from the devolved regions such as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Ambulance Service.

The CEO stated that the devolved regions are all members Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) as well, so the 10 ten English ambulance services and the devolved government ambulance services do meet to share best practice and also risks. There are also executive groups that carry out more detailed work and those work streams report into the AACE. So learning and sharing is ongoing. The CEO acknowledged that there are differences such as targets and priorities set by the relevant devolved government. An example of learning was that the Welsh devolved government has changed the way their targets and the way that emergency calls are categorised. So the English Ambulance Services will work with the Welsh Ambulance service to look at the impact of the changes and whether there is any learning for the English Ambulance Services. There is always support across borders such as mutual aid or a response to a major incident.

Mr Read thanked the CEO and Chairman for the depth of the answers.

There were no other questions.

25/10 – Any other Business

There was no other business raised at the meeting

The Chair then brought the Annual Members Meeting to a close and thanked staff and members of the public for their attendance.