North East Ambulance Service

Map of North East Ambulance Service's coverage

The North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust (NEAS) is the authority responsible for providing NHS ambulance services in North East England, covering the counties of County Durham, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear and the boroughs of Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees. The trust was formed on July 1, 2006, following the merger of the old Northumbria Ambulance Service, County Durham Ambulance Service and the Tees division of the Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Trust (TENYAS).

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. There is no charge to patients for use of the service, and under the Patient's charter, every person in the United Kingdom, has the right to the attendance of an ambulance in an emergency. The North East Ambulance Service also provides Patient Transport Services (PTS) or non-emergency services to patients in the area.

The North East Ambulance Service currently operates 107 emergency ambulances, 50 rapid response cars, 28 urgent care vehicles, 242 patient transport vehicles, 4 community paramedic cars, and 120 support service vehicles.

NEAS is one of four trusts in the country to receive a "good" rating in the 2006/7 Healthcare Commission Healthcheck ^[1] report. This is the highest rating achieved by any ambulance service for provision of care.

On 23 August 2010, the North East Ambulance Service announced^{[citation needed]} it was trialling a new service known as NHS 111. The trials would mean that anyone living in the County Durham and Darlington area could dial 111 to access out of hours urgent care. The idea is for this service to be rolled out nationally and to replace NHS Direct.

Services provided

999 Emergency Service

NHS 111 Service (County Durham & Darlington Area Only)

Patient Transport Service

Locations

Headquarters

The main trust HQ is currently based in Newburn Riverside, Newcastle upon Tyne. The HQ is known as Bernicia House.

Control Centres

There are two control rooms currently operating for NEAS. Bernicia House Control, Newburn Riverside, Newcastle Upon Tyne and Russell House Control, Hebburn, South Tyneside. 999 emergency calls are answered by the call takers at Bernicia House Control in Newburn Riverside and Russell House Control in Hebburn. 111 urgent care calls are also answered by the call takers at Bernicia House Control in Newburn Riverside and Russell House Control in Hebburn. The Patient Transport Service Non-Emergency calls are answered by the call takers at Bernicia House Control in Newburn Riverside only. The dispatching for all emergency ambulances is done at Bernicia House Control in Newburn only however can be done at Russell House Control in Hebburn if the main control room was to go down for any reason.

Fleet Workshops

The main fleet workshops is based at Pallion in Sunderland.

Training Centres

The two main training centres for NEAS are based at Lanchester Road Hospital in Durham and Scotswood House in Newcastle Business Park.

Ambulance Divisions/Desks

North East Ambulance Service are split into 4 divisions or desks known in control. There is North Tyne which covers Northumberland, Newcastle and North Tyneside. There is South Tyne which covers South Shields, Gateshead, Sunderland, Washington and nearby surrounding areas. There is Durham which covers the County Durham and Darlington area including Stanley, Consett, Chester-le-street, Seaham, Weardale, Peterlee, Barnard Castle and other surrounding areas. And finally there is Tees which covers Middlesbrough, Stockton, Hartlepool, Carlin How, Redcar, Coulby Newham and other surrounding areas.

Ambulance Stations

• Alnwick - North Tyne
• Amble - North Tyne
• Ashington - North Tyne
• Backworth - North Tyne
• Barnard Castle - Durham
• Belford - North Tyne
• Bellingham¹ - North Tyne
• Billingham - Tees
• Berwick-upon-Tweed - North Tyne
• Bishop Auckland - Durham
• Blyth² - North Tyne
• Blucher - North Tyne
• Carlin How - Tees
• Central - North Tyne
• Chester-le-Street - Durham
• Consett - Durham
• Coulby Newham - Tees
• Cramlington² - North Tyne
• Crook - Durham
• Darlington² - Durham
• Debdon Gardens - North Tyne
• Fulwell - South Tyne
• Fishburn - Durham
• Gateshead - Durham
• Gilesgate - Durham
• Haltwhistle¹ - North Tyne
• Hartlepool North - Tees
• Hartlepool South - Tees
• Hawkeys Lane - North Tyne
• Hebburn² - South Tyne
• Hexham - North Tyne
• Middlesbrough - Tees
• Middleton-in-Teesdale - Durham
• Monkton- South Tyne
• Morpeth - North Tyne
• Newton Aycliffe - Durham
• Newcastle General Hospital Transfer Station - North Tyne
• Pallion - South Tyne
• Peterlee - Durham
• Prudhoe² - South Tyne
• Rainton Bridge² - South Tyne
• Redcar - Tees
• Rothbury¹ - North Tyne
• Ryhope - South Tyne
• Sandyford³ - North Tyne
• Seaham - Durham
• South Shields - South Tyne
• Stanley - Durham
• Stockton-On-Tees - Tees
• Swalwell² - South Tyne
• Wallsend - North Tyne
• Washington - South Tyne
• Weardale (St John's Chapel) - Durham
• Wideopen - North Tyne
• Wooler - North Tyne

¹ denotes single staffed "community paramedic" stations

² denotes stations that are co-located with Fire Brigade stations

³ denotes stations that are co-located with Territorial Army barracks

Future Developments

New 'Bank Rapids' are now in operation. The 'Bank Rapids' are qualified paramedics from across the United Kingdom who have offered to assist NEAS. NEAS provide the rapid response cars. The majority of these paramedics are on the bank and only do occasional shifts as and when they like. The 'Bank Rapids' start and end there shift at the Headquarters at Newburn Riverside however could be sent anywhere throughout the North East to provide cover.

The New 'Backworth' Ambulance Station is now operational in the North Tyne division.

A new secondary control centre and ambulance station in Monkton, Hebburn is now operational. This is known as Russell House and has replaced Hebburn ambulance station and the Middlesbrough Control Centre. Monkton is also the base for the Hazardous Area Response Team which became operational in early 2010. The HART team respond to all major and serious cases throughout the North East Ambulance Service area. They have specialist equipment and paramedics to deal with big scale emergencies.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom

References

1. ^ North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust

External links

• North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust
• North East Ambulance Service First Aid Training
• Hazardous Area Respose Team