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Our policies and procedures

In this section you'll find our current written protocols, policies and procedures for delivering our services.

Anti-Bribery and Corruption Statement

The Bribery Act came into force on 1 July 2011 with the aim of tackling bribery and corruption in both the private and public sectors. Bribery is defined as the giving or receiving of a financial or other advantage in exchange for improperly performing a relevant function or activity.

North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust is committed to applying the highest standards of ethical conduct, following good NHS business practice and having robust controls in place to prevent bribery. However, as an organisation we cannot afford to be complacent and under no circumstances is the giving, offering, receiving or soliciting of a bribe acceptable and the trust will not tolerate this in any form.

The trust’s zero tolerance approach to bribery and corruption is set out in further detail within the Anti-fraud, Bribery and Corruption Policy, and across a range of other policies and procedural documentation. This applies to all staff and non-executives, together with contractors and agents working or acting on behalf of the trust.

All are responsible for gaining an understanding of the requirements, the standard of conduct expected of them and ensuring that they comply at all times with all of our policies and procedures. This includes those in relation to procurement, hospitality and the acceptance of gifts.

Bribery and corruption under the act are punishable for individuals as a criminal offence by up to 10 years imprisonment and if the trust is found to have taken part in the corruption the trust could face an unlimited fine and face incalculable damage to our reputation. The trust therefore takes its legal responsibilities very seriously.

Any act of bribery undertaken by a member or an employee of the trust will result in disciplinary action and will be treated with a similar level of importance by the trust’s board. If you are in any doubt as to whether any conduct could amount to bribery, or if you have any concerns or suspicions regarding bribery being committed, please contact a member of the Trust’s Board or Audit One on 0191 441 5916.

The success of the organisation’s anti-bribery measures depends on all employees, and those acting for the organisation, playing their part in helping to detect and eradicate bribery. Therefore, all employees and others acting for, or on the behalf of the organisation are encouraged to report any suspected bribery in accordance with the procedures set out in either the Reporting Concerns at Work or the Anti-Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Policy.

Modern Slavery Statement

Please see our Modern Slavery Statement here.

Policies and procedures relating to the conduct of business and the provision of services

There are a number of key documents requiring compliance by the Trust, its Board Members, employees and volunteers in order to ensure that sound governance is in place and which together, provide a regulatory framework for business conduct of the service.  These documents are as follows:  

• Standing Orders  This document provides a framework for internal governance and primarily deals with the functioning of the Board.   
• Standing Financial Instructions  This document provides a framework for financial governance and details the financial responsibilities, policies and procedures to be adopted by the Trust.  They are designed to ensure that financial transactions are carried out in accordance with the law.
• Schedule of Decisions Reserved to the Board   Boards need to determine those matters on which decisions are reserved to it.  Certain powers are retained for use by the Board only and these feature on this schedule.  
• Scheme of Delegation  The Board may determine that some powers shall be exercised by certain committees.   Details of these are contained in that document.  

The above documents refer to key policies that should be read in conjunction with those documents in the business and provision of services part of the table above. 

Complaints and other customer service policies and procedures

Advice regarding how to complain (or how to compliment) the service is available here on the website. A leaflet entitled, 'How to complain' has been produced by NEAS and is available here 

To find out more about the complaints policy, provided in table above. 

Being Open

Patient safety incidents can have devastating emotional and physical consequences for patients, their families and carers and can be distressing for the professionals involved.

Being open about what happened and discussing patient safety incidents promptly, fully and compassionately can help patients and professionals to cope better with the after effects.

Openness and honesty can also help to prevent such events becoming formal complaints and litigation claims. The following set of principles has been developed to help healthcare organisations create and embed a culture of Being Open:

1. Acknowledgement
2. Truthfulness, timeliness and clarity of communication
3. Apology
4. Recognising patient and carer expectations
5. Professional support
6. Risk management and systems improvement
7. Multidisciplinary responsibility
8. Clinical governance
9. Confidentiality
10. Continuity of care

You can read our Being Open Policy here

What we charge for certain information

Freedom of Information (FOI)  

Should the number of hours required to obtain and provide information under the Freedom of Information Act exceed the £450 threshold (of £25 per hour - set in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection [Appropriate Limit and Fees] Regulations 2004), NEAS is not obliged to comply with the request.  It should however, and it is obliged to do so, offer advice and assistance under Section 16.  NEAS will endeavour to discuss with the applicant, the possibility of refining the request to cost less.

NEAS does not charge for materials used to provide responses to FOI requests, however, it is entitled to do so at a cost to be determined by NEAS, should the response require significant resources to be produced.