A sense of optimism, at a time of great challenges for the urgent and emergency care system, merged with the resounding message that ambulance services will need even stronger leadership to survive and thrive in the future.
These two key themes, optimism and leadership emerged over the two days of this week’s highly successful Ambulance Leadership Forum (ALF) 2016.
The event – produced annually by the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) – is now the major place for senior ambulance staff and their colleagues in industry and from across the wider NHS and academic landscapes to meet, network and discuss the topics that are at the top of the agenda for today’s UK ambulance service leaders.
ALF 2016 was held in Leicester and attracted over two hundred delegates for the two days, drawn from all UK NHS ambulance services and their key partners from across the health sector. The first day saw a busy series of conference presentations which sparked some lively debates across the floor.
Copies of the Speaker Presentations are available here.
Chair of the Conference – award-winning BBC and Channel 4 journalist Liz MacKean – was able to get the participants to provide insight and share knowledge and ideas on a range of ambulance management topics.
Never far from the debate though, was the spectre of the unprecedented and ever growing demand for ambulance services, combined with the stark reality of the pressures being felt throughout the whole urgent and emergency care system.
Professor Keith Willett discussed this in detail and outlined what NHS England are doing to combat these issues, while simultaneously urging ambulance leaders to be brave and to adopt innovative approaches to managing their resources.
Privately some audience members may have been forgiven for wondering how much more they could do and how much faster they could go to implement changes, although the mood in the room remained upbeat and Professor Willett was, as always, a most welcome and informative speaker.
Regrettably, the Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt was a last minute cancellation.
In his absence, the audience was instead played a recorded message from Lord Prior of Brampton, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for NHS Productivity (Minister responsible for Urgent and Emergency Care).
He thanked ambulance services for the hard work that was being done to save lives and treat patients in such challenging times.
The evening saw a magnificent gala dinner – kindly sponsored by the ALF 2016 main sponsor Ferno® – where the AACE Outstanding Service Awards were presented for excellence to staff from across England. For details of all ten highly-deserving winners please see the list below.
Two other features of the evening were a charity auction which raised over £1,000 in aid of The Ambulance Services Charity (TASC) and an amusing and light hearted send-off by AACE chair Anthony Marsh for North West Ambulance Service Chief Executive Officer Bob Williams who is retiring in three weeks after 36 years in the NHS. Bob’s inspiring talk earlier in the day reminded many what an excellent and gifted leader the ambulance service is actually losing.
Day two was all about a series of workshops where the topics were as follows: ‘Our
Workforce,’ ‘Technological and Digital Enablement’ and ‘Vanguards and Innovation.’
These workshops sparked more healthy debates and delegates left with new ideas and renewed vigour to take back to their trusts.
Copies of the Workshop Presentations are available here.
The event finished with meetings of the national director and work stream groups while the AACE organising team took a deep breath and discussed improvements for next year!
The feedback from delegates was overwhelmingly positive with many describing an intimate yet rewarding event which consolidated the challenges facing UK ambulance services while providing genuine ideas and inspiration for positive changes back in trusts.
Jerry Overton, Chairman – International Academies of Emergency Dispatch, said:
ALF 2016 was the most relevant yet. By bringing together presenters who understand the challenges of today’s ambulance services, and establishing an environment for ongoing interaction, the organizers created a forum that is unique in not only identifying issues, but working towards solutions. AACE must be congratulated for yet another superb congress and I shall look forward to ALF 2017.”
Jon Ellis, Managing Director – Ferno UK Limited, added:
The ALF 2016 event was a huge success in terms of the number of visitors over the two days. As always, the event was well organised by AACE with a number of top line presenters focusing on the key topics and strategies effecting the UK Ambulance Services during the two-day duration. Ferno were proud to be the main sponsor and we relished the opportunity to display our new innovations at such a prestigious event. We look forward to our continued support of the Ambulance Leadership Forum in the future.”
You can leave your own feedback here.
List of AACE Outstanding Service Awards Winners:
Outstanding Control Services Employee Award
Craig Foster, Call Operator – North East Ambulance Service
Outstanding Mentor or Tutor
Chris Mathews, Critical Care Paramedic – South East Coast Ambulance Service
Outstanding Innovation and Change Award
Thomas Heywood, Clinical Manager – Yorkshire Ambulance Service
Outstanding Innovation and Change Award
Adam Aston, Paramedic – West Midlands Ambulance Service
Outstanding Manager Award
Karen Gardner, Operations Manager – North East Ambulance Service
Outstanding Paramedic Award
Abigail Evans, Cycle Response Unit – London Ambulance Service
Outstanding Non-Paramedic Clinician
Steve Wainwright, Emergency Care Assistant – East of England Ambulance Service
Outstanding Support Services Award
Tez Westwood, HART Support Technician – East Midlands Ambulance Service
Outstanding Senior Management Award
Tracy Nicholls, Head of Quality Governance – East of England Ambulance Service
Outstanding Welfare and Wellbeing Award
Ben Lambert, Team Leader – South Central Ambulance Service
Your Feedback on the Forum
We would really value your thoughts on the 2016 event.
Please take a minute to fill in our quick feedback form here.
ALF 2017
The venue for next year’s event will again be in a central location and the date to hold in your diary is 7th and 8th of February 2017.
