Chief Executive, Peter Bradley, said:
“While we are happy to discuss opportunities for greater
collaboration between emergency services, we believe it is vital
that the London Ambulance Service remains part of the NHS.
“We are an integral part of the health service in the capital,
delivering world class care to Londoners, day in day out. Our track
record shows we are managing increasing numbers of calls while
improving our response to the most seriously ill and injured
patients.
“The suggestion that savings of £500m could be made by merging
stations is completely unrealistic. We respond to around 1.1m
incidents a year with a budget of just £283m - providing excellent
value for money.
“Our award winning emergency control room is the busiest in the
world. We take nearly 1.5m calls a year – more than all 46 English
fires services put together. And it costs Londoners just £30 a head
for our service compared to £60 per head for the fire service.
“We do want to work more closely with our emergency partners.
Where it is operationally practical, we will look at sharing
facilities and at joint purchasing arrangements. We are in the
process of organising a meeting at a senior level with the
Metropolitan Police Service and the London Fire Brigade to improve
collaboration between services.
“However, our job is to deliver clinical care to Londoners and,
as the London Assembly review concludes, we can do this most
effectively if we remain integrated within the health
service.”
Notes to editors
- London Assembly Report:
'The future of the London Ambulance Service - A strategic
review'
- In 2010/11 the London Ambulance Service received 1,494,207
emergency calls and responded to 1,058,132 incidents. This is more
than all 46 fire services put together.
- 347,675 of these incidents were categorised as immediately
life-threatening (Category A).
- In 2010/11 we gave 50,058 patients clinical help and advice
over the telephone and referred a further 46,054 patients to NHS
Direct, potentially saving almost 100,000 ambulance journeys.
- The provision of the ambulance service in London costs £30 per
resident. The provision of the fire service in London costs £60 per
resident.
- For further information about the London Ambulance Service or
this news release please contact the communications department on
020 7783 2286.
- Find out more about the London Ambulance Service at www.londonambulance.nhs.uk
or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ldn_ambulance.