South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust and London Ambulance Service NHS Trust have announced that they have established a partnership to look at potential efficiencies through projects like joint procurement of vehicles, equipment and IT systems.
The two Trusts, which provide 999 / 111 urgent and emergency care services for about 16 million people between them, are also committed to working more closely together and learning from each other’s best practices.
South Central Ambulance Service Chief Executive Will Hancock says: “We already work closely together with London Ambulance Service, including at incidents which happen on or near our boundaries, during large-scale planned events and major incidents. With ever increasing demands on ambulance services across the country, such partnerships will be crucial to ensure that the improvements in patient care and experience, working environments for staff and innovations in service delivery can be delivered within our existing resources.
“Many of our residents in the South Central region commute into London daily to work. We would also therefore like to explore opportunities to improve patient care for that large body of people we share between our two services, for example, through closer working between our 111 and integrated urgent care services. People might call 111 during the day and have a face-to-face appointment booked for them nearer home when they return.”
London Ambulance Service Chief Executive Garrett Emmerson says: “Our patients expect and deserve the best care we can provide and that means making every £1 of taxpayers’ money count.
“Our five year strategy is improving the way in which we provide urgent and emergency care to people who live, work or travel in London in the most cost effective way. And we know that to keep improving, we need to partner with the wider NHS - and that’s what this partnership is all about, working with and learning from our neighbours to ensure the best care for the 16 million people who live and work across London and the South Central region.”
South Central Ambulance Service covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire (as well as Sussex and Surrey for non-emergency patient transport services) and London Ambulance Service covers the 32 London boroughs.
In 2017/18 South Central Ambulance Service took 1,284,974 calls to NHS 111 (that’s one call every 24 seconds), attended 567,219 emergency 999 incidents (more than one a minute) and completed 873,922 patient transport service journeys (driving over 10.5 million miles).
London Ambulance Service is the busiest emergency ambulance service in the UK. It receives around 5000 calls a day and responds across London in ambulances, response cars, bicycles, motorcycles and by helicopter to help those in need.
