Health Minister Lord Warner has announced sweeping improvements to England’s ambulance service. The changes will revolutionise the way in which ambulances deliver care across the country and build on the significant advances already made over recent years.
Improving NHS ambulance services
A number of changes that patients can expect to see over the next five years were outlined, including faster response times to save more lives, improved technology and information, re-organisation of ambulance trusts and call-centres, and streamlining of response time targets and call categories will mean that ambulances can concentrate on reaching the most urgent cases where every second counts.
Non-urgent callers to 999 will in future be offered more advice over the phone and provided with the most appropriate local service that best meets their needs. In addition to this, ambulance staff will be trained and equipped to carry out and interpret more diagnostic tests and undertake basic procedures in the home.
Assisting all of these changes is an increase in the number of Emergency Care Practitioners (ECPs) across the country. The Department of Health will work with Strategic Health Authorities and Ambulance Trusts to significantly increase the number of ECPs to help deliver these changes. It will also ensure that the training and education of other ambulance clinicians is reviewed to ensure that they can best meet patient needs.
