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North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) has been awarded almost £8m to upgrade its ambulance fleet.
The funds are part of a £450m investment by the government to expand urgent and emergency care facilities. It will enable NWAS to decommission 40 diesel ambulances and replace them with brand-new converted Fiat Ducatos.
As part of the funding, £900k will be used to purchase four new fully electric ambulances. These will be additional vehicles and an expansion of the service’s green fleet. They will also expand a trial to look at fully electric ambulances responding to patients for the first time in the North West, and are based on a converted Ford Transit model.
“This funding is welcome. It will allow us to replace more of our existing older fleet than planned. This means we have newer vehicles in operation, hopefully leading to fewer breakdowns.
“The new electric ambulances allow us to extend our pilot to additional locations, with two electric ambulances already going into operation in Blackpool and Manchester later this year.”
NWAS Director of Finance Carolyn Wood.
Sam James, Regional Chief Operating Officer at NHS England in the North West, added: “We’re pleased North West Ambulance Service has secured this funding to replace their ambulance fleet. Our ambulance staff are there at times of need, providing expert and calm care to patients in often pressurised situations. It’s great being able to support them with new vehicles that will help them continue to provide a better service to our North West patients. The four electric vehicles are also better for the environment and will help contribute towards the NHS’s ambition of becoming a net-zero health service.”
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