As the evenings get darker and the temperature drops, North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) is looking to recruit more than 700 new staff members to ensure it can continue to deliver a high-quality service despite additional winter demands. By Christmas, 75 new paramedics and 32 emergency medical technicians will have joined the team, with more due to be in post by March 2024. There will be 72 new recruits for the Patient Transport Service and 250 new call handlers for the 999 and NHS 111 contact centres. The service is also increasing the number of clinicians working in its 999 contact centres. They help get patients the right care for their needs by providing healthcare advice over the phone or making referrals to an alternative health or care service in the community. An additional 32 emergency ambulances will be out responding to patients by February, increasing the number of emergency ambulances operating across the region to 553. The service says that it will continue to work closely with local hospitals to help reduce the amount of time ambulances spend waiting to handover patients, allowing vehicles and crews to be free to respond to the next emergency. Chief Operating Officer, Salman Desai said: “As always, we are here for you when you need us most and we have robust plans in place to ensure that the high-quality service expected by our patients is maintained throughout the winter period. “We know that the winter months will bring with it additional challenges in terms of more people needing our help, ongoing industrial action taking place across the healthcare system and an expected increase of seasonal illnesses, but we are as prepared as we can be for increased demands on our service."
