Three ambulance services have announced plans to form an alliance that could have a real impact on patient care.

Between them, South East Coast, South Western and West Midlands Ambulance Services take over 2.5 million 999 calls every year. The three Trusts plan to form an alliance that will see them working even more closely to deliver efficiency savings to invest in front line services.

The alliance expects to deliver savings through initiatives such as the joint procurement of supplies, including equipment and fuel. In addition, the three will work collaboratively to share best practice across the area for the benefit of patients and staff. They will also work on improving resilience between the organisations for planned events and major incidents.

The work will draw upon existing benchmarking and evidence from the National Audit Office investigation into ambulance services, and more recently, the report from Lord Carter into efficiency and productivity. There are no plans to merge services or restructure existing operations, but the changes mean that the three Trusts can make every pound of taxpayers’ money work as efficiently as possible. 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.”

The decision to move towards an alliance was agreed on Tuesday (20th November) 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. 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.”