North West Ambulance Service

Last updated

North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust
NWAS
Type NHS trust
Established1 July 2006
Headquarters Bolton [1]
Region served Greater Manchester, Cheshire Merseyside, Cumbria, Lancashire and part of the High Peak district of Derbyshire
Area size5,400 sq. miles
Population7.5 million
Budget£310 million (Approx)
ChairPeter White
Chief executiveDaren Mochrie [2]
Staff5,912 (2018/19) [3]
Website www.nwas.nhs.uk OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust (NWAS) is the ambulance service for North West England. It is one of ten ambulance trusts providing England with Emergency medical services, and is part of the National Health Service, receiving direct government funding for its role.

Contents

NWAS was formed on 1 July 2006, following the merger of four previous services (Cumbria Ambulance Service; Lancashire Ambulance Service; Cheshire and Mersey Ambulance Service; and Greater Manchester Ambulance Service) as part of Health Minister Lord Warner's plans to combine ambulance services. [4]

Based in Bolton, the trust provides services to over 7 million people in Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire, Cumbria, and the North Western fringes of the High Peak district of Derbyshire (covering the towns of Glossop and Hadfield) in an area of 5,500 square miles (14,000 km2). NWAS provides emergency ambulance response via the 999 system, as well as operating the NHS 111 advice service for North West England.

They also operate non-emergency patient transport services (PTS) for part of the region, and in 2013/2014 carried out 1.2 million such journeys. Since 2016, the PTS in Cheshire, Warrington and Wirral has instead been carried out by West Midlands Ambulance Service. [5]

Fleet

NWAS Fiat Ducato ambulance in Blackpool in November 2024 North West Ambulance Service A155 - LA24 KLZ.jpg
NWAS Fiat Ducato ambulance in Blackpool in November 2024
Skoda Octavia response car in 2017 Ambulance (34736058975) (cropped).jpg
Skoda Octavia response car in 2017

NWAS utilise a mixed fleet of emergency and patient transport ambulances. As a member of the Northern Ambulance Alliance, [6] the trust shares a common fleet of Fiat Ducato dual crewed ambulances and Škoda Octavia and Volkswagen Passat rapid response cars. [7] [8] In Greater Manchester, some paramedics respond on specially converted bicycles; [9] cycle responders were also trialled in Liverpool during the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. [10]

In 2017, NWAS began using 26 BMW i3 electric cars for use as rapid response vehicles. [11] The rollout of electric vehicles in the NWAS fleet expanded with the delivery of seven Mercedes-Benz eVito mental health ambulances in 2022. [12] [13] [14]

Locations and structure

The trust currently operates from 104 ambulance stations across the North West. [15] The most northerly station is at Carlisle, and the furthest south is at Crewe. It also maintains three Emergency Operations Centres (EOCs) for the handling of 999 calls and dispatch of emergency ambulances.

In 2017, NWAS signed an agreement to purchase a new EOC and area office for £2.9 million at Liverpool International Business Park next to Liverpool John Lennon Airport [16] As of 2019, this building has been converted and services have now migrated from the Anfield site.

Over recent years, the trust has combined many of their older ambulance stations into purpose-built facilities shared with other emergency services, including Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue, Lancashire Fire and Rescue and Greater Manchester Police. [17] [18]

Performance

NWAS was the first ambulance trust to be inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), in August 2014. The CQC found the trust provided safe and effective services which were well-led and with a clear focus on quality but it was criticised for taking too many callers to hospital and for sending ambulances when other responses would have been more appropriate. [19] The trust was subsequently inspected in 2018 and was found to have improved with a rating of "Good" [20]

CQC performance rating

In its last inspection of the service in February 2020, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) gave the following ratings on a scale of outstanding (the service is performing exceptionally well), good (the service is performing well and meeting our expectations), requires improvement (the service isn't performing as well as it should) and inadequate (the service is performing badly):

Inspection Reports
AreaRating 2017 [21] Rating 2018 [20] Rating 2020 [22]
Are services Safe?Requires improvementGoodGood
Are services Effective?GoodGoodGood
Are services CaringGoodGoodGood
Are services ResponsiveGoodGoodGood
Are services Well-ledRequires improvementGoodGood
Overall ratingRequires improvementGoodGood

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Ambulance Service</span> Ambulance service in London

The London Ambulance Service NHS Trust (LAS) is an NHS trust responsible for operating ambulances and answering and responding to urgent and emergency medical situations within the London region of England. The service responds to 999 phone calls across the region, and 111 phone calls from certain parts, providing triage and advice to enable an appropriate level of response.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South East Coast Ambulance Service</span> Provider of ambulance services for south-eastern England

The South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) is the NHS ambulance services trust for south-eastern England, covering Kent, Surrey, West Sussex and East Sussex. It also covers a part of north-eastern Hampshire around Aldershot, Farnborough, Fleet and Yateley. The service was made an NHS foundation trust on 1 March 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Western Ambulance Service</span> UK ambulance service

The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) is the organisation responsible for providing ambulance services for the National Health Service (NHS) across South West England. It serves the council areas of Bath and North East Somerset, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, Plymouth, Isles of Scilly, Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, Torbay and Wiltshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yorkshire Ambulance Service</span> Ambulance trust in Yorkshire, England

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS) is the NHS ambulance service covering most of Yorkshire in England. It is one of ten NHS Ambulance Trusts providing England with emergency medical services as part of the National Health Service it receives direct government funding for its role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Central Ambulance Service</span> Regional ambulance service in England

The South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) is the ambulance service for the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and most of Hampshire. It is a foundation trust of the National Health Service, and one of ten NHS ambulance trusts in England. As of August 2022, SCAS is currently rated Inadequate by the CQC following multiple failings within the trust. SCAS is the only Ambulance Service in England to have received this rating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East of England Ambulance Service</span> Ambulance service in England

The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) is an NHS trust responsible for providing National Health Service (NHS) ambulance services in the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, in the East of England region. These consist of approximately 6.2 million people across an area of 7,500 square miles (19,000 km2).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North East Ambulance Service</span> UK public sector ambulance service

The North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (NEAS) is an NHS foundation trust responsible for providing NHS ambulance services in North East England. Headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, NEAS provides emergency medical services to the metropolitan boroughs of Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and City of Sunderland; the ceremonial counties of County Durham and Northumberland; and the area of North Yorkshire commonly known as Teesside. NEAS was formed on 1 July 2006, following the merger of the existing North East Ambulance Service with the Tees division of the Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service (TENYAS). Northumbria Ambulance Service and County Durham Ambulance Service had previously merged on 1 April 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Midlands Ambulance Service</span> Ambulance trust in England

The West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust (WMAS UNHSFT) is responsible for providing NHS ambulance services within the West Midlands region of England. It is one of ten ambulance trusts providing England with emergency medical services, and is part of the National Health Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust</span> NHS mental health trust

North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust was an NHS foundation trust which provided mental health, learning disability and community health services in fifteen boroughs of North West England. The Trust delivered mental health and learning disability services in Halton, Knowsley, St Helens, Warrington and Wigan, as well as community-based physical health services in Halton, Knowsley, St Helens and Sefton. It also provided services to improve outcomes for people with mental vulnerabilities within the criminal justice system across Greater Manchester, working in partnership with Mitie Care and Custody and Cheshire and Greater Manchester Community Rehabilitation Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom</span>

Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom provide emergency care to people with acute illness or injury and are predominantly provided free at the point of use by the four National Health Services (NHS) of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Emergency care including ambulance and emergency department treatment is only free to UK residents and a charge may be made to those not entitled to free NHS care.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emergency medical personnel in the United Kingdom</span> People engaged in the provision of emergency medical services

Emergency medical personnel in the United Kingdom are people engaged in the provision of emergency medical services. This includes paramedics, emergency medical technicians and emergency care assistants. 'Paramedic' is a protected title, strictly regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council, although there is tendency for the public to use this term when referring to any member of ambulance staff.

NHS North West was a strategic health authority (SHA) of the National Health Service in England. It operated in the North West region, which is coterminous with the local government office region.

The Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) is a capability of the NHS ambulance services in the United Kingdom devoted to providing paramedic and enhanced medical care to patients in the "hot zone" of hazardous environments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North West Air Ambulance</span> English charity air ambulance

North West Air Ambulance is the helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) that covers the North West England region, consisting of the counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside.

SSP Health is the largest provider of primary care GP services in the North West of England. As of 2014 it was one of only three such organisations in England serving more than 140,000 patients.

Out-of-hours services are the arrangements to provide access to healthcare at times when General Practitioner surgeries are closed; in the United Kingdom this is normally between 6.30pm and 8am, at weekends, at Bank Holidays and sometimes if the practice is closed for educational sessions.

Healthcare in Cheshire was the responsibility of Eastern Cheshire, South Cheshire, Vale Royal and West Cheshire clinical commissioning groups until July 2022.

The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations at the start of January and those for 2021 were announced on 30 December 2020.

References

  1. ↑ "Contact details - North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust". Care Quality Commission. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  2. ↑ "Meet the board".
  3. ↑ "Annual Report 2018/19" (PDF). North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  4. ↑ "Where we are". nwas.nhs.uk. North West Ambulance Services. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  5. ↑ "North West Ambulance Service loses contract to cover Cheshire". Chester Chronicle. 1 January 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  6. ↑ de Prez, Matt (22 March 2019). "Northern Ambulance Alliance saves £1m through joint procurement of fleet management system". FleetNews. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  7. ↑ "Greener ambulances to join North West Ambulance Service fleet". Emergency Service Times. 26 January 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  8. ↑ Bogie, Andrew (20 February 2017). "Michelin CrossClimate+ rollout for North West Ambulance Service rapid responders". Tyre Press. Retrieved 13 October 2024. The North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust has fit Michelin's CrossClimate+ to its 160-strong rapid response paramedic fleet of Škoda Octavias and Volkswagen Passats.
  9. ↑ Crook, Amanda (16 April 2010). "Paramedics get on their bikes". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  10. ↑ "Cycle response ride the streets of Liverpool". North West Ambulance Service. 15 May 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  11. ↑ Thomason, Neil (27 February 2017). "Ambulance service looks to save millions by leasing BMW i3 electric vehicles". leasing.com. Archived from the original on 20 August 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  12. ↑ Pye, Daniel (21 September 2022). "NHS rolls out Electric vehicles across North West". News & Star. Carlisle. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  13. ↑ "Award-winning mental health team benefits from new green addition". North West Ambulance Service. 21 September 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  14. ↑ Greensmith, Alex (17 May 2023). "Macclesfield: Ambulance leads the way in electric vehicles". Macclesfield News Nub. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  15. ↑ "North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust - Where we are". www.nwas.nhs.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  16. ↑ "New home for Merseyside Ambulance staff". liverpoolecho. 31 July 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  17. ↑ "VIDEO: Take a look inside Lancaster's new community fire and ambulance station". www.lancasterguardian.co.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  18. ↑ "Fire and ambulance services teaming up in new station". www.wigantoday.net. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  19. ↑ "North West Ambulance Service gets mixed Care Quality Commission report". BBC News. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  20. 1 2 "North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust: Quality Report". Care Quality Commission. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  21. ↑ "North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust: Quality Report". Care Quality Commission. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  22. ↑ "Provider: North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust". Care Quality Commission . Retrieved 22 January 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.