Enter and View: SOS Bus

Healthwatch Oxfordshire undertook an Enter and View visit to the SOS bus on 31 December 2018.  This provides an on-the-spot service to deal with drug and alcohol intoxication to avoid overwhelming A&E services and was set up in response to research in 2014 by Healthwatch Oxfordshire.  The service runs every Friday and Saturday night during the winter from 11pm to 5am, with an additional service on New Year’s Eve.  They spoke to 4 staff, 3 patients, 2 friends and 2 police officers who referred people to the service.

Findings

• The SOS Project can provide faster, more efficient and more cost-effective treatment to the people who are using Oxfordshire’s night time economy
• Treatment at the Project can help to avoid unnecessary attendance at the Emergency Department
• The project is highly valued by the local police as it can free up their time to focus on criminal concerns as opposed to medical ones
• It is an excellent example of successful multi-agency working
• The SOS Project is a valuable community resource which should receive funding to run all year
• Patients felt that it was a wonderful service run by friendly and professional staff

Recommendations

There were three recommendations about capturing all interaction with people to identify impact, obtain funding and review its location. 

There is a response from the provider to the recommendations.