South Central Ambulance Service
The South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust is the authority responsible for providing NHS ambulance services in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire in the South East England region. The trust was formed on July 1, 2006, following the merger of the Royal Berkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, the Hampshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, the Oxfordshire Ambulance NHS Trust, and the Two Shires Ambulance NHS Trust (Bucks only).
It is one of 12 Ambulance Trusts providing England with emergency medical services, and is part of the National Health Service, receiving direct government funding for its role. There is no charge to patients for use of the service, and under the Patient's charter, every person in the United Kingdom has the right to the attendance of an ambulance in an emergency.
South Central Ambulance Service is the only NHS Trust ambulance provider in the UK to have its own League of Friends. Inherited from the former Oxfordshire Ambulance NHS Trust, this was founded in 1982, and today raises funds that are used to enhance the standard of care for patients, provide additional benefits for service personnel, encourage the acquisition of essential life-support skills among the public, and allow the deployment of volunteer Community first responder.
In June 2011 it was named the UK's top performing ambulance service with a Cat A response time of 77.5%, the national average is 74.9%. In October 2011 the BBC discovered that SCAS spent more on private ambulance services to cover 999 calls than any other service in the country.
[edit] See also
- Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom
- Pre 2006 NHS ambulance services
- Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance
[edit] External links
- South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust http://www.southcentralambulance.nhs.uk
- South Central Ambulance League of Friends http://www.ambulancefriends.org.uk
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-13889857
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-15353747
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