Hubbry Logo
search
logo
1686160

South Western Ambulance Service

logo
Community Hub0 Subscribers
Write something...
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
See all
South Western Ambulance Service

The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) is the organisation responsible for providing ambulance services for the National Health Service (NHS) across South West England. It serves the council areas of Bath and North East Somerset, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, Plymouth, Isles of Scilly, Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, Torbay and Wiltshire.

On 1 March 2011, SWASFT was the first ambulance service in the country to become a NHS foundation trust. On 1 February 2013, the former Great Western Ambulance Service merged with the trust.

SWASFT serves a population of more than 5.5 million, and its area is estimated to receive an influx of over 17.5 million visitors each year. The operational area is predominantly rural but also has large urban centres including Bristol, Plymouth, Exeter, Truro, Bath, Swindon, Gloucester, Bournemouth and Poole.

The service is headquartered in Exeter, Devon. It has 96 ambulance stations and six charity-operated air ambulance bases within its area. The chief executive is John Martin.

The trust's core operations include:

It is one of the ambulance trusts providing England with emergency medical services, and employs around 4,500 mainly clinical and operational staff (including Paramedics, Emergency Care Practitioners, Advanced Technicians, Emergency Care Assistants, Ambulance Care Assistants and Nurse Practitioners). In addition there are around 3,200 volunteers including community first responders, BASICS doctors, fire service co-responders and patient transport drivers.

The trust covers an area of 10,000 square miles (26,000 km2). There are 95 ambulance stations, six air ambulance bases delivered by five charities, two control rooms, two Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) bases and one boat across the SWASFT operational area.

In 2017/2018, approximately one in nine 999 calls to SWASFT were treated over the telephone. "Hear and treat", where the patient receives clinical advice over the telephone, accounted for 11.6% of calls. For 35.8% of incidents the patients experienced "see and treat", when the patient receives treatment or advice at the scene of the incident. In a further 5.9% of incidents, the patient was taken to a non-emergency hospital department such as a community hospital or minor injuries unit. The remaining incidents resulted in a patient being taken to a hospital emergency department, thus around half of the incidents (53%) resulted in a patient not being conveyed.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.