West Midlands Ambulance Service alliance with two trusts planned

West Midlands Ambulance Service, along with South East Coast and South Western trusts plan to form an alliance which will see them working closely to 'deliver efficiency savings' to invest in front line services.

Between them, the trusts take more than 2.5 million 999 calls each year, with a joint income of more than £700 million.

They plan to make savings through the joint procurement of supplies, including equipment and fuel.

They will also work on improving resilience between the organisations for planned events and major incidents.

There are no plans to merge services or restructure existing operations.

South East Coast Ambulance Service covers Kent, Surrey, West Sussex and East Sussex, while South Western Ambulance Service covers the counties of Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, the Isles of Scilly, Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.

Anthony Marsh, chief executive of West Midlands Ambulance Service, said: “I can see real improvements in the way we work coming from the development of our relationships between organisations. In particular I can see how we will improve the resilience of our services which can only benefit staff and patients alike.”

Ken Wenman, chief executive of South Western Ambulance Service, added: “I am really excited by this new alliance. There are significant benefits for both our people and our patients from the three services working more closely together. It will allow us to reduce duplication and learn from best practice which will save money and ultimately improve the care we provide for our patients.”

Daren Mochrie, chief executive of South East Coast Ambulance Service, said: “This is the right thing to do for our patients and our staff. By forming this partnership, we will be able to bring together the knowledge and experience of three trusts to explore ways to reduce variation in some areas and develop new joint initiatives that will untimely enhance the quality of the care for our patients.”

The decision to move towards an alliance was agreed on November 20 by the chief executives and chairs of the three trusts follows the recommendations of the Carter report, which described ambulance services working in an alliance to deliver efficiency savings and improved productivity.

WMAS Chairman, Sir Graham Meldrum, said: “There are clear advantages of the three organisations working together which can only benefit staff and the public we serve. This alliance will allow us to improve the care we provide to patients whilst supporting our staff who work incredibly hard every day.”

West Midlands Ambulance Service covers 5,000 square miles with a population of 5.6 million. The trust receives on average 4,000 calls per day.