London Ambulance Service celebrates NHS Parliamentary awards win

London Ambulance Service has been recognised in the prestigious NHS Parliamentary awards for a project which sees hospitals and paramedics working together to hand over patient care at hospital more quickly and for its highly successful apprenticeship scheme.

Chief Executive Daniel Elkeles was joined by LAS staff to pick up the Excellence in Urgent and Emergency Care Award alongside Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust at a ceremony in the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre in Westminster on Monday (14 October).

Crews at the London Ambulance Service and staff at King George Hospital have made significant progress in improving patient handover times at the emergency department, bringing down the average handover time from 50 minutes in early 2023 to 23 minutes by the end of the year. Not only is this better for the patient, it means LAS crews can get back out and help people waiting for care in the community.

LAS was also ‘highly commended’ in the Excellence in Education and Training category for its award-winning Apprenticeship scheme.

The London Ambulance apprenticeship scheme, recently named as one of the very 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.

LAS Chief Executive Daniel Elkeles said:

“Given the sheer number of extraordinary entries highlighting innovation and best practice from around the NHS, it’s a real honour to be recognised with King George’s hospital for a collaboration which aims to improve the quality of care we give to patients and those who are still waiting for our help.

“To also be highly commended for our Apprenticeship scheme shows just how far we have come in making LAS a great place to work and to develop a career.”

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 the Rt Hon Wes Streeting and Julia Lopez. MPs Barry Gardiner, the Rt Hon Emily Thornberry and the Rt Hon Stephen Timms, nominated LAS for the Apprenticeship scheme.