ORH achieves standards ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001:2013 certification from the British Assessment Bureau

ORH has achieved certification to the internationally recognised ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001:2013 standards, following an independent assessment conducted by the British Assessment Bureau. This certification confirms ORH’s continued commitment to customer service and quality in delivery, and also to keeping our data, staff and premises secure.

ORH has now earned the right to display the coveted British Assessment Bureau quality shield and ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001:2013 logos to demonstrate our conformance to the standards.

ISO 9001 was first introduced in 1987 and requires organisations to prove that they do what they say they do, and that they have a Quality Management System in place to ensure consistency and improvement; leading to high levels of performance and customer satisfaction. Certified organisations are committed to continuous improvement and are regularly assessed to ensure that progress is being maintained.

ISO 27001 is the internationally recognised Information Security Management Standard that proves an organisation’s commitment to the security of their customer, employee and shareholder information. With ISO 27001 in place, ORH is able to minimise risks to potential data security breaches and reduce errors and costs, while demonstrating credibility and trust.

ORH has over 30 years’ experience within emergency service planning, setting the benchmark with a proven approach combining rigorous scientific analysis and experienced, insightful consultancy.  Achieving the certification recognises our commitment to getting it right, for the good of our clients and the people who rely on their services.

ORH secures Fire Service Review in British Columbia

Having completed a major review of metropolitan ambulance cover in Greater Vancouver in 2014/15, ORH is excited to be back in British Columbia, this time to undertake a review for City of Richmond Fire-Rescue. The review requires in-depth analysis of the current service profile, before going on to model the optimum deployment of resources to meet current and future (10-year) projected demand. ORH’s detailed modelling approach uses demand, workload and geography to simulate potential options for change. The work is due to be completed by the end of November 2017.

Funding Increase for BCEHS

An independent ORH study helped British Columbia Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) secure $91.4 million of additional funding over the next three years. ORH forecasted that BC’s growing and aging population would increase demand for services by approximately 6% per year over the next five years.  The data and evidence from ORH’s review was used by BCEHS in developing their 2020 Action Plan and supporting business case. This additional funding from the Ministry of Health will provide six new ambulances, more paramedics and dispatchers, together with new equipment and programs. This will enable BCEHS to improve emergency response times and become more sustainable and innovative.  For more information, please read the BCEHS news release.

Young to OR conference

In April 2017, consultants and data analysts from ORH attended The OR Society’s biennial Young to OR conference in London. Here they were involved in workshops, technique tasters and keynote sessions. They also attended talks from OR academics and practitioners on a wide range of subjects, including “Robust Optimisation”, “Working with Uncertainty” and “Decision Analysis for Decision Making”. ORH analyst Dr Lauren Petrie gave a presentation on “Modelling Access to Healthcare in the Australian Outback”, which related to ORH’s ongoing work with the Royal Flying Doctor Service. A team challenge was also undertaken which required participants to use inter-disciplinary networking and problem solving to design and present an OR solution to a real-life complex problem. ORH staff were placed in both the winning and runners-up teams.

ORH’s modelling for LFB featured in The OR Society magazine

Find out how ORH’s simulation and optimisation modelling has helped London Fire Brigade in the latest edition of The OR Society’s Impact magazine. Andrew Cooper, a consultant at ORH, discusses how ORH’s collaborative approach with LFB has helped to maximise performance across London in times of austerity. You can read the full article in the Spring 2016 edition, as featured on The OR Society’s website.

Poster Win for ORH!

We are pleased to announce that one of our developers, Dr Tom Boness, won the Practitioner and Researcher Poster competition at the OR Society’s 8th Simulation Workshop. Tom’s poster focused on modelling the resourcing requirements for Patient Transport Services (PTS). ORH has recently worked with two large PTS providers: HealthShare New South Wales and Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust. In these studies ORH assessed the impact of different demand and resourcing profiles on the timeliness of patient arrivals and post-appointment collections, and on resource utilisation. Tom’s challenge was to develop ORH’s PTS simulation software, PTSim, to plan efficient routes for a fleet of vehicles undertaking pre-booked and short-notice transport requests.  The results of this work with Yorkshire Ambulance Service can be viewed in the case study.

ORH review will ‘renew and revitalise’ emergency ambulance services in Metro Vancouver

ORH completed a major review of emergency ambulance cover in the Metro Operations Area in British Columbia in Autumn 2015. British Columbia Emergency Health Services released an associated Action Plan on 5th February 2016, stating that ‘the review gives valuable information to achieve our goal of a more patient-centred, sustainable ambulance service’.The review projected a 42.5% increase in call volumes over six years, and identified a range of efficiency and investment measures to keep pace with the growing demand and to improve response standards, particularly to higher acuity patients.

Read the BCEHS Action plan announcement here.

Simcoe Paramedic Services Deployment Review

ORH recently completed a Comprehensive Deployment Review for the County of Simcoe Paramedic Services (CSPS) in Ontario, Canada. CSPS employs over 300 staff who respond out of 17 stations and satellite points to a population of 465,000. The review involved the development of a 10-year operational master plan and the provision of a simulation modelling tool for CSPS to use in-house. ORH determined that, moving forward with the optimal 23-site configuration, a 38% increase in vehicle hours would be required to maintain current performance levels by 2024. Modelling showed that the recommended set of station locations would allow staff and vehicle resources to be used more efficiently. The full case study can be read here.

ORH Awarded First Contract in Sweden

We are very pleased to have commenced a service review for the Greater Stockholm Fire Brigade (Storstockholms brandförsvar); this project marks ORH’s first study in Sweden. The Greater Stockholm Fire Brigade has 740 employees, 15 fire stations and 9 rescue corps and serves 1.2 million people in the Greater Stockholm area. The study will analyse the levels of incident demand and response performance in recent years. Modelling will then be undertaken to assess coverage provided by pumping and aerial appliances.

Tempe Fire Station Location Study

In 2015, ORH completed its first contract in the USA for Tempe Fire Medical Rescue Department (TFMRD) in Arizona. The overall objective of the study was to evaluate the City’s distribution of fire stations. Given projected growth in the City and the increased demand for EMS responses, the study projected forward the number of incidents to ensure that the recommended solution was future-proof. At the completion of the study, the final report was presented to the City Council and the recommendations were approved. The full case study can be read here.

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