This is a very exciting time for the London Ambulance Service. We are the largest ambulance service in the world, and the only healthcare provider that delivers care to all of London. As you would expect, what faces us is a series of challenges but also unique opportunities.
Ambulance services have sometimes felt as if they have sat alongside the rest of the NHS, rather than being fully part of it, culturally and organisationally. At the LAS we have the opportunity to tackle this. The new Integrated Care Systems give us a chance to fully participate as part of a whole care pathway, and as part of the governance of a whole system of care. We are keen to play our full role, and a key responsibility for the Chair will be enhancing relationships with our partners across London to shape and model how urgent and emergency care will develop across the capital and beyond in the new NHS.
This is helped by the fact that as well as providing 999 services, we are the 111 provider for most of London, which means we have the ability to work across, and more effectively join up, primary care, community services and 999 services. This is an area we see as key to our future and we have developed new services, such as community paramedics and mental health cars to provide an effective interface with primary and community care.
We also think it is important to change the culture of the organisation, to challenge outdated views and ways of working that have been pervasive in ambulance services.
We have launched, with the enthusiastic support of our staff, the biggest culture change programme in the history of the LAS, and we see our Chair as having a special role in championing renewed values and promoting equality and opportunity for all.
We are also investing in our future. Notwithstanding the short to medium term financial challenges the NHS faces, we were successful in securing £16.6 million pounds in funding to purchase new greener vehicles – set to make it the NHS trust with the largest electric response fleet in the country. We will be purchasing 225 new vehicles over the course of a year, as well as 42 electric fast response cars and three electric motorcycles. LAS will be the first service to use such electric motorbikes to respond to emergency calls.
We appointed a new substantive chief executive in February, who brings senior NHS experience from outside the ambulance sector. Most of the executive team are new and all are committed to a transformational change programme which will make the LAS pre-eminent amongst ambulance services.
The chair will also be supported by an exceptional team of NEDs, who bring great experience of both senior clinical management and experience of running major institutions with a public interface. We are seeking a Chair who can add genuine added value to our Board and our place in London – in particular, we are keen to speak with individuals who bring experience as Chairs or senior NEDs in the NHS or from wider public service and voluntary sector environments – those who understand the complexity of working with multiple partners and stakeholders and a track record of leading transformation at Board level. Above all else, as an organisation whose values drive all that we do, it is imperative that these are consistently and visibly lived at Board level, and that our Board Members perform their duties in a manner consistent with these.
To learn more please contact our recruitment consultants Rhiannon Smith and Jenny Adrian at Hunter Healthcare on jadrian@hunter-healthcare.com
To download the candidate pack click here
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| March 30, 2022 | Closing Date |