| North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust | |
|---|---|
| NWAS | |
 | |
 A rapid response vehicle (RRV) going past theThree Graces of Liverpool | |
 Map of North West Ambulance Service's coverage | |
| Type | NHS trust |
| Established | 1 July 2006 |
| Headquarters | Bolton[1] |
| Region served | Greater Manchester,CheshireMerseyside,Cumbria,Lancashire and part of theHigh Peak district ofDerbyshire |
| Area size | 5,400 sq. miles |
| Population | 7.5 million |
| Budget | £310 million (Approx) |
| Chair | Julia Mulligan[2] |
| Chief executive | Salman Desai[2] |
| Staff | 5,912 (2018/19)[3] |
| Website | www |
TheNorth West Ambulance Service NHS Trust (NWAS) is theambulance service forNorth West England. It is one of tenambulance trusts providing England withEmergency medical services, and is part of theNational Health Service, receiving direct government funding for its role.
NWAS was formed on 1 July 2006, following the merger of four previous services (Cumbria Ambulance Service; Lancashire Ambulance Service; Cheshire andMersey Ambulance Service; and Greater Manchester Ambulance Service) as part of Health MinisterLord Warner's plans to combine ambulance services.[4]
Based inBolton, the trust provides services to over 7 million people inGreater Manchester,Cheshire,Merseyside,Lancashire,Cumbria, and the North Western fringes of theHigh Peak district ofDerbyshire (covering the towns ofGlossop andHadfield) in an area of 5,500 square miles (14,000 km2).NWAS provides emergency ambulance response via the 999 system, as well as operating theNHS 111 advice service for North West England.
They also operate non-emergencypatient transport services (PTS) for part of the region, and in 2013/2014 carried out 1.2 million such journeys. Since 2016, the PTS in Cheshire, Warrington and Wirral has instead been carried out byWest Midlands Ambulance Service.[5]
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NWAS utilise a mixed fleet of emergency and patient transport ambulances. As a member of the Northern Ambulance Alliance,[6] the trust shares a common fleet ofFiat Ducato dual crewed ambulances andKia EV6,Hyundai Ioniq 5 andBMW X1 (F48)rapid response cars.[7][8] In Greater Manchester, some paramedics respond onspecially converted bicycles;[9] cycle responders were also trialled in Liverpool during the2023 Eurovision Song Contest.[10]
In 2017, NWAS began using 26BMW i3 electric cars for use as rapid response vehicles.[11] The rollout of electric vehicles in the NWAS fleet expanded with the delivery of eightMercedes-Benz eVito mental health ambulances in 2022 and 2023.[12][13][14]
The trust currently operates from 104ambulance stations across the North West.[15] The most northerly station is atCarlisle, and the furthest south is atCrewe. It also maintains three Emergency Operations Centres (EOCs) for the handling of999 calls and dispatch of emergency ambulances.
In 2017, NWAS signed an agreement to purchase a new EOC and area office for £2.9 million at Liverpool International Business Park next toLiverpool John Lennon Airport[16] As of 2019[update], this building has been converted and services have now migrated from the Anfield site.
Over recent years, the trust has combined many of their older ambulance stations into purpose-built facilities shared with other emergency services, includingGreater Manchester Fire and Rescue,Lancashire Fire and Rescue andGreater Manchester Police.[17][18]
NWAS was the first ambulance trust to be inspected by theCare Quality Commission (CQC), in August 2014. The CQC found the trust provided safe and effective services which were well-led and with a clear focus on quality but it was criticised for taking too many callers to hospital and for sending ambulances when other responses would have been more appropriate.[19] The trust was subsequently inspected in 2018 and was found to have improved with a rating of "Good"[20]
In its last inspection of the service in February 2020, theCare Quality Commission (CQC) gave the following ratings on a scale of outstanding (the service is performing exceptionally well), good (the service is performing well and meeting our expectations), requires improvement (the service isn't performing as well as it should) and inadequate (the service is performing badly):
| Area | Rating 2017[21] | Rating 2018[20] | Rating 2020[22] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Are services Safe? | Requires improvement | Good | Good |
| Are services Effective? | Good | Good | Good |
| Are services Caring | Good | Good | Good |
| Are services Responsive | Good | Good | Good |
| Are services Well-led | Requires improvement | Good | Good |
| Overall rating | Requires improvement | Good | Good |
The North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust has fit Michelin's CrossClimate+ to its 160-strong rapid response paramedic fleet of Škoda Octavias and Volkswagen Passats.
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