The Earl Howe, the Health Minister responsible for urgent and emergency care, took the opportunity of a speech at the Ambulance Services Network (ASN) Conference to praise the ambulance service as one that ‘refuses to rest on its laurels’.
Said Earl Howe: “I believe that the quality of our ambulance service today has never been better. The people who work in it are highly-skilled and impeccably professional. Response times are among the best in the world. Innovative and high-quality treatments and working practices mean patients always get sensational care. And of course, the service possesses the mark of any great organisation: it refuses to rest on its laurels.”
The Earl also took the opportunity to welcome a new era of co-operation between the Department of Health and the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE), saying: “I recently met Anthony Marsh, Chairman of the AACE. I’m sure most of you will know Anthony. I was impressed by his forward thinking, positive attitude. We are seeing the service continue to evolve and improve precisely by combining new technology, an increasingly professional workforce and great leadership.
“But Anthony knows, as I do, that the journey goes on. To achieve our goals, we must continue to work towards a fully integrated urgent care service, following the example set by the work on ambulance handovers and applying a similar approach consistently, across the whole sector.”
The event, entitled ‘Leading the way: getting the most out of the reforms in urgent and emergency care’ took place in London on Monday 12 November 2012, billed by the NHS Confederation as being, ‘the annual opportunity for urgent and emergency care stakeholders to debate the opportunities and challenges facing this sector following the NHS reforms ’the conference was well attended and provided a useful platform to hear about current issues.’
Run by the ASN and incorporating all areas of urgent and emergency care, the event also included keynote speakers such as King’s Fund senior fellow Nigel Edwards, NHS deputy chief executive David Flory, as well as practising clinicians from urgent and emergency care and other sectors.
