Changes to your Ambulance service

Behind the headlines

Like every public sector organisation, this Trust is facing a number of challenges and these need to be addressed if we are to remain a high quality provider of healthcare across the east of England, including:

• Demand on the 999 service. There are more people calling 999 than ever before. Last year the Trust saw a 4.2% increase in the number of emergency and urgent calls it received from the public. Over three years this increase has been 15%.
  
  
• Quality of services. The Trust is continually looking to improve the quality of the services it delivers.  The public, rightly, demand better services year on year and it is the Trust’s job to drive forward improvements.
  
  
• Financial challenges. Over the next five years the Trust will need to save £60 million, which is equivalent to more than 25% of the Trust’s budget. Nearly 75% of our costs are in frontline 999 service and last year we reduced these costs by £15 million and we are on target to do the same this year.

Despite the significant financial pressure facing public sector organisations, the Trust has been absolutely clear that it has no intention of closing stations or making front line staff redundant. The Trust is ensuring there is a better match between the resources it has available and the 999 call demand which has changed dramatically over the last few years.

To find out what we are doing go here.

What happens when you call 999 for an ambulance?

Click here to view our guide to what happens when you call 999 for an ambulance.

Related News items

Full EEAST response to ‘Pressure Mounts’ on the Trust as reported in the Eastern Daily Press, Thursday March 21, 2013
We responded in detail to this allegation and the questions and answers sent to the newspaper can be found HERE.

Full EEAST response to 'service meltdown' allegation East Anglian Daily Times article - November 27, 2012
The headline and article in the East Anglian Daily Times (EADT) on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 claimed that the East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) is close to meltdown as key targets are missed. The newspaper used lengthy quotes from a number of people, but did not print our full response to all the questions asked, which we believe doesn’t give the public the full picture. Our response to all of the questions posed to us by the EADT is given here.

Patient safety is our top priority
EEAST recently responded to the EDP's Ambulance Watch campaign by revealing the challenges it faces and how it is successfully rising to them as well as outlining what to expect when you call 999. The story appeared in the paper on Monday, October 22. Here is the article text in full.