­­­­London Ambulance Service shortlisted for two NHS Parliamentary awards

London Ambulance Service (LAS) has been shortlisted for two prestigious NHS Parliamentary awards celebrating the achievements and dedication of NHS staff.

LAS has made it through to the final stage of this year’s NHS Parliamentary awards in two categories – the Excellence in Urgent and Emergency Care Award and the Excellence in Education and Training Award – following more than 918 nomination submissions across the country.

Following a thorough judging process in recent weeks, LAS has been shortlisted ahead of the awards ceremony later this year (Monday 14 October). The Service was nominated for two projects – one with King George Hospital in Ilford, part of Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, where paramedics and hospital staff work together to ensure patient care is transferred from the ambulance crew to the Emergency Department within 45 minutes of the patient arriving at hospital, and another for the highly successful, award-winning Apprenticeship Scheme.

LAS was nominated for the pioneering patient care handover agreement, which helps  to reduce patient waiting times across the urgent and emergency care system, by two MPs – Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Julia Lopez. MPs Barry Gardiner, Emily Thornberry and Stephen Timms, nominated LAS for the Apprenticeship scheme.

Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Medical Officer at LAS Dr Fenella Wrigley MBE said:

“Our staff work very hard to continue to improve the care we give to Londoners and to make sure we are a great place to work which attracts and develops the teams we need in the future. Working collaboratively with the wider health systems in London is key to many of the improvements we are making.

“I’m very proud we have been recognised by a number of MPs and the Secretary of State for Health in these awards, alongside so many entries of innovation, best practice and excellent patient care from around the NHS.”

The focus on handing over patient care at King George Hospital has significantly reduced delays, allowing ambulance crews to get back out on the road and to their next patient more quickly. A year ago, 38 percent of all handovers at the hospital took more than an hour meaning crews would be waiting with a patient outside hospital for longer than they should, but since the scheme was implemented, this has dropped to just one percent.

The London Ambulance apprenticeship scheme, recently named as one of the best apprenticeship employers in the Department of Education list, allows staff to learn as they earn, getting on-the-job experience and enabling a diverse group of applicants to thrive.

The programme has helped to ensure candidates from all backgrounds can start a career with London Ambulance Service, meaning our teams better reflect and represent the diversity of London and the people it serves.

For example, the proportion of trainee Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) from black and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds rose from eight percent in 2022/23 to 17 percent in 2023/24.

The scheme is also aimed at supporting more women entering the profession. In 2023/24, 55% of all trainee Assistant Ambulance Practitioners (AAPs) AAPs and 48% of all trainee EMTs were women.

All regional champions will be invited to the national award ceremony at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in Westminster in October, where the winners will be named.

The full list of awards can be found here, alongside details of the different categories. https://www.england.nhs.uk/nhs-parliamentary-awards/