South Western Ambulance Service
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| South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust | |||
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| Area: | Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset | ||
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| Founded: | July 2006 | ||
| Population: | 2.5 million | ||
| Size: | 11,235 square miles | ||
| Staff: | 2000+ | ||
| Chief Executive (Chief Ambulance officer): | Ken Wenman | ||
| Stations: | Ashburton Axminster Barnstaple Bideford Blanford Bodmin Bournemouth Bridgwater Bridport Brixham Bude Burnham Camelford Carbis Bay Castle Cary Christchurch Credition Cullompton Dartmouth Dawlish Derriford Dorchester Exeter Exmouth Falmouth Frome Glastonbury Helston Holsworthy Honiton Ilfracombe Ilimister Isles of Scilly Kingsbridge Launceston Liskeard Lynton Minehead Newquay Newton Abbot Okehampton Paignton Penzance Poole Redruth St Austell Saltash Shaftesbury Shepton Mallet Sherborne Sidmouth South Molton Swanage Taunton Tavistock Tiverton Torpoint Torquay Totnes Truro Wadebridge Wareham Weymouth Winborne Yeovil |
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| HQ: | Exeter | ||
| Website: | http://www.swast.nhs.uk | ||
The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust (SWAST) is the authority responsible for providing NHS ambulance services in the counties of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset. The trust was created in July 2006 as a result of the merger of the Westcountry and Dorset ambulance services.
It is one of 12 Ambulance Trusts providing England with Emergency medical services, and is part of the National Health Service, receiving direct government funding for its role. Under the Patient's charter, every person in the United Kingdom has the right to the attendance of an ambulance in an emergency. There is no charge to patients for use of the service.
The trust is split into 2 divisions:
West - Devon and Cornwall including West Divisional HQ and 999 Control at Exeter (covering the former Westcountry areas of Somerset, Devon and Cornwall) and PTS Controls at Plymouth and Exeter
East - Somerset and Dorset including East Divisional HQ, 999 and PTS Control at Ringwood (covering the former Dorset Ambulance area) and PTS Control at Taunton. As of May 2008, the PTS Control at Taunton will close and existing facilities amalgimated into the control at Ringwood.
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[edit] Facts and Figures
The Trust is one of the smallest of the new trusts formed in England in 2006. It has 65 stations within all the 4 counties it serves. Within this, it covers 20,231 miles of road and 827 miles of coastline. In a year, over 250,000 Emergency and Urgent calls are received and dealt with.
The Trust provides ambulance services for the Strategic Health Authority: NHS South West. In addition the Trust works with the following Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) for ambulance matters:
Primary Care Trusts
Cornwall
- Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
Devon
- Devon
- Plymouth Teaching
- Torbay
Somerset
- Somerset
Dorset
- Bournemouth and Poole
- Dorset[1]
[edit] Vehicles
- A&E vehicles - 194 (not including Movano vehicles removed from service in 2007)
- PTS vehicles - 118
- RRV cars - 86
- RRV motorcycles - 7
- Pool cars - 28
- Other vehicles - 59
- Air ambulances - 4
- Air bases - 4[2]
[edit] Air Ambulances
The South Western Ambulance Service have access to the following air ambulances.
- Cornwall Air Ambulance
- Devon Air Ambulance of which there are two helicopters.
- Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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