It "paves the way" for the creation of a single ambulance service, with a workforce of about 4,000, serving a resident population of more than 5.3 million people.
"Well supported staff provide better care to patients, so it's also vital ambulance trusts take ownership of workforce problems and better support staff if they run into difficulties".
283 South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust AMB The Trust is currently undergoing a workforce review process.
The North West ambulance service (NWAS) devised a campaign to invite the workforce, which was spread over 1,000 square miles, to identify what they felt was needed to bring about service improvements.
In 2011, WCG EMS had a total of 42 ambulance bases (38 rural), 145 operational ambulances and an operational workforce of 1373.
Time and costs associated with traveling to doctor visits and other medical emergencies are omitted (except to the extent that such costs are partially captured under ambulance costs and the absenteeism estimate for those in the workforce).
North West Ambulance Service has also warned that with a "substantial reduction in its workforce" there will be delays for some patients.
The dearth of workforce housing also has an impact on local volunteer fire departments and ambulance squads, which tend to attract younger recruits.
South Central Ambulance Service, which covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire, has 220 vacancies – 20% of its workforce.
It defends its health and safety record, claiming that the number of ambulance call outs is misleading without factoring in the number of hours worked, size of the workforce and whether the incidents were work-related.
