Abstract P-006: INITIAL CHALLENGES OF ESTABLISHING A STAND-ALONE PAEDIATRIC CRITICAL CARE TRANSPORT SERVICE IN ENGLAND, UK

Abstract

Aims & Objectives: The Children’s Medical Emergency Transport service (CoMET) is a stand-alone paediatric critical care transport service established in March 2017. The service has been commissioned to provide an acute transport service 24/7, and a repatriation service during daytime hours. CoMET serves the East Midlands region of England, with a population of more than 4.5 million. Aim: - We report the initial challenges of establishing CoMET, in the current scenario of limited finance and availability of trained staff in UK. Methods We retrospectively analysed feedback from incidents, staff, stakeholder events and data from the PICANet. (Paediatric Intensive Care Audit Network- UK National Database). Results CoMET faces challenges regarding recruitment to enable the full establishment of the service. In order to launch a 24/7 acute service on 4th December 2017, the repatriation service offered had to become ad-hoc (only 38% of shifts covered between December 2017- March 2018) Ambulance provision was not commissioned and the team relies on front line emergency vehicles which serve the whole region. As a result, CoMET is only able to comply with the national standards of mobilising within 30 minutes of acceptance (acute transfers) in 21 % of occasions (March- December 2017). Ambulance delays making up the majority of the incidents reported. Conclusions Achieving adequate staffing and a dedicated ambulance remains a major challenge. Openness, transparency and a flexible mind-set to learn from the challenges faced will continue to be the key in developing this service during its first steps, and into the future.