Ambulance

£7 million for new mental health ambulances

The Government has committed to providing more support for NHS mental health crisis response by investing in 100 new mental health ambulances is part of a wider package of crisis response infrastructure worth £150 million over two years. The package of measures is intended to reduce the pressure on the ambulance service and hospital accident… Read more »

Emergency healthcare is a national emergency, says Lords report

A report from a House of Lords Committee says that emergency healthcare is in crisis and that the Government should create a new operating model which takes account of how patients move through the health system. In the short term, the report recommends that the Government set up a special (COBR) committee to address the… Read more »

Government announces £50m funding for new ambulance hubs

The Government is making available an additional £50 million in capital funding to expand hospital discharge lounges and ambulance hubs. The new money will create new ambulance hubs where vehicles can manoeuvre more easily to avoid delays handing over patients. The funding will also expand discharge lounges in NHS Trusts, areas where patients can be… Read more »

Award winning system helping vulnerable patients

A new IT system which has transformed how the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) identifies and helps vulnerable patients, has won a national award. SWASFT teamed up with Exeter-based Iridium Consulting to create the Frequent Caller Management System (FCMS), which has won the Best Healthcare Management Solution category in the Health Tech…

New chief for South Central Ambulance Service

David Eltringham has been appointed Chief Executive Officer at South Central Ambulance Service. He starts his new role in March 2023. For the last four and a half years David has been working as Managing Director at George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, Nuneaton, one of three District General Hospitals that make up the Foundation Group. Prior… Read more »

Ambulance staff to strike on 21 and 28 December

Two days of coordinated strike action by members of the GMB, UNISON and Unite unions involving 10,000 ambulance staff across nine trusts in England and Wales have been confirmed. The Health and Social Care Minister told Sky News that the unions have said that ambulance workers will still respond to cover life-threatening conditions. The Secretary… Read more »

New funding boost for ambulance volunteers in East Midlands

East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) Community Response team has successfully secured £607,000 in charity grants to launch new volunteer projects and fund defibrillators and electric vehicles across the East Midlands. NHS Charities Together awarded a grant of £509,000 with an additional grant of £98,000 coming from NHS England. These two Community Services Grants will be… Read more »

CMA requires NEC to sell parts of software business to restore competition

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said that NEC, a software supplier to the emergency services, must sell some parts of its business after an in-depth merger investigation found that they could end up paying more for essential software in control rooms and for managing duty planning. NEC and SSS (previously part of Capita… Read more »

New approach to get patients the care they need more quickly

The East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST) is piloting a new approach that will see patients getting the help they need more quickly. New ways of integrated working and new digital systems have been put in place to allow ambulance referrals to be sent directly to urgent care response services, such as ‘Hospital at… Read more »