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A £4m investment in East Midlands Ambulance Service’s (EMAS) Clinical Assessment Hub is helping thousands more patients receive faster, more appropriate care, while keeping frontline ambulance crews available for life-threatening emergencies.
The expanded Clinical Hub, staffed by experienced paramedics, nurses and mental health clinicians working across multiple sites and from home, provides rapid clinical assessments over the phone. This enables patients to access the right care, in the right place, at the right time, without an automatic ambulance response where it is not clinically required.
Through the Hub, clinicians offer telephone advice, support patients to manage conditions safely at home, arrange urgent appointments closer to home, make direct referrals into community and specialist NHS services, and access Clinical Assessment Services where nurses and doctors can prescribe medication such as antibiotics.
The impact on operational demand has been significant. On one of EMAS’s busiest days in early January, the service received more than 4,000 calls. Around 2,500 required clinical assessment, with almost a quarter managed safely by the Clinical Hub without sending an ambulance.
On average, the Hub now manages more than 14,200 calls each month that previously would have required an ambulance response. NHS England data from November 2025 shows that around one in five 999 calls to EMAS were safely resolved through the Clinical Hub alone.
By reducing avoidable dispatches, the model is improving response times for the most serious incidents. By the end of 2025, average response times for Category 2 calls, including strokes, heart attacks and breathing difficulties, were significantly faster than the same period in 2024, with improvements of around 10 minutes in November and 22 minutes in December.
The investment has also supported workforce growth. More than 50 additional clinicians have been recruited into control centres since summer 2025, strengthening EMAS’s ability to manage increasingly complex clinical demand.
Dr Steven Dykes, Clinical Director at EMAS, said the expansion reflects the changing nature of emergency care. “The investment has allowed us to expand our existing Clinical Assessment team and introduce new specialist services within our control centres, including recruitment of over 50 additional clinicians since the summer.
“Our Clinical Hub brings together experienced paramedics, nurses, and mental health nurses who provide rapid clinical assessments over the phone. This is increasingly important as more people with clinically complex conditions seek help.”
Alongside the Hub expansion, EMAS has welcomed 47 newly qualified paramedics, is receiving more than 100 new ambulances, and is enhancing coordination of urgent care through initiatives such as its Critical Care Desk.
The approach aligns with the NHS 10-Year Health Plan’s shift towards community-based care, helping reduce pressure on hospitals while ensuring patients receive timely, appropriate clinical support.
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