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NHS Ambulance Trusts

A review of ambulance services, ““Taking Healthcare to the Patient: Transforming NHS Ambulance Services”” was published in June 2005. It set out a clear strategic direction for ambulance services that would improve patient services. Over the next five years, ambulance services will provide an increasing range of mobile healthcare for patients who need urgent care. They will work to help provide diagnostic services and support patients with long-term conditions and they will continue to improve the speed and quality of ambulance responses to 999 calls. This review was undertaken by Peter Bradley CBE, Chief Executive of London Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust and National Ambulance Adviser, at the request of the Department of Health. He was supported by a reference group of key stakeholders including ambulance trust chief executives, clinicians and representatives of other NHS organisations. Copies of the review were placed in the Library in June 2005. The reference group's view was that in order for the benefits outlined in the review to be fully realised, ambulance trusts need to have sufficient strategic capacity, and to be of a size to attract the high calibre senior managers and leaders necessary to manage these new organisations. The review therefore recommended that there should be significantly fewer, larger ambulance trusts, so that ambulance trusts would have the infrastructure, capacity and capability necessary to deliver and sustain the changes needed. Benefits of these larger trusts include:"More investment in front-line services as trusts make savings in ““back room”” functions;""Improved patient care by providing an opportunity to raise the standards of service provided by all trusts to the level of the best;""Better emergency planning with greater capacity and capability to respond to major incidents of all kinds;""More integrated services and better career opportunities for staff." I have accepted the recommendation for fewer ambulance trusts. A 14-week consultation, led by strategic health authorities (SHAs) on my behalf, will now consider the future organisation of ambulance trusts. Consultation will begin today and conclude on 22 March 2006. Any changes to the organisation of ambulance trusts will only happen following local consultation and discussion with relevant parties in the local area. We expect that SHAs will involve hon. and right hon. Members in the consultations, including sending them copies of the consultation document. Some copies of the consultation document have also been placed in the Library. We believe these proposals to reorganise ambulance trusts, coupled with all other recommendations made in ““Taking Healthcare to the Patient: Transforming NHS Ambulance Services”” will put the NHS in the best position to provide more convenient, consistently high quality and appropriate mobile healthcare for the people of England. Under these proposals, there would be no reduction in ambulance vehicles or frontline staff. Instead, they will mean less bureaucracy and more money to invest in front-line services. Response times for life-threatening situations will not be adversely affected by these changes. I can confirm that the proposals for the reconfiguration of SHAs and the proposals for the reconfiguration of primary care trusts (PCTs), as set out in my written statement of 1 December, are also going forward for consultation from today. All proposals will be subject to a fourteen-week local consultation and will therefore run concurrently with the consultation on the proposed reconfiguration of NHS ambulance trusts. No decisions will be taken regarding the reconfiguration of SHAs or PCTs until the results of the local consultations have been considered and any recommendations reviewed.