A message from Jason Killens, new AACE Chair and Welsh Ambulance Chief Executive
It is with pride that I have recently taken up the role of AACE Chair having been elected by my chief executive peers to lead the membership body representing the ambulance sector across the four Nations and Islands of the United Kingdom.
Firstly, I want to thank Daren Mochrie for his leadership of AACE over the last four years as Chair during which time much of the pandemic unfolded adding additional complexity and challenge to our everyday working and domestic lives.
This period brought many new and often high-risk issues to our workplaces, and colleagues across our sector continued to provide the best care possible in the circumstances to our patients. It was a stressful time for us all and was full of reminders for me of why I joined the ambulance service.
Aged 21 in February 1996, I started my career at London Ambulance Service (LAS) as what was then a Qualified Ambulance Person working operationally in east London for a few years before moving into first line management roles. After working in a resource centre, I moved into station management in north and then south London before returning to east London and then moving to Waterloo (LAS HQ) in 2009 as Deputy Director of Operations.
After twenty years at LAS, I chose to begin an overseas adventure and moved to Australia. Leaving LAS in 2015 as Executive Director of Operations I took up the role of Chief Executive of the South Australia Ambulance Service for three years returning to the UK and NHS in 2018 to my current role as Chief Executive of the Welsh Ambulance Services University NHS Trust.
I did so because strangely, despite living next to the beach and having much better weather all year round – amongst other perks, I missed the NHS, it’s free at the point of delivery foundation and the genuine ability to help people regardless of status and means. That’s why I joined and that’s what continues to drive me in all that I do today. I chose a career in management and leadership as I believed I could help more people, our people and our patients, more of the time in doing so.
My pitch to be the Chair of AACE spoke about four issues which I see as crucially important to our sector in the coming years. They are:
- Our culture: we must ensure all our workplaces are safe where all our people work in compassionate and inclusive teams.
- Our role in the health and social care system and specifically Urgent and Emergency Care: we must promote our shared vision and strategy lobbying key stakeholders, decision makers and opinion formers persistently and consistently.
- Our system leadership potential: we must lead the debate about the system leadership and co-ordination role that ambulance services can offer at a local, regional and national level.
- Our sector: we must shape the role of AACE with the emerging regional alliances and work more closely together as a national sector.
There are many great examples of leadership at every level, transformation and clinical innovation taking place up and down the UK in all our services. These are improving the working lives of our people and the services we offer to our communities and our patients.
In the context of an ageing population, ongoing pressure across urgent and emergency care and the need to improve patient experience we must all take on the leadership challenge that is continually striving for the best we can offer in all that we do. Leadership occurs at every level, often takes courage, can be lonely but can be immensely rewarding.
I am passionate about doing what I believe to be right for our people and our patients. I’m proud of what our people do every day in the service of our communities, and I look forward, as Chair of AACE, to working with colleagues across the ambulance sector – staying true to the reasons I joined our sector 28 years ago – to help people.
Jason Killens KAM
