We are delighted to announce that EMAS ambulance van conversion has been judged as the best in the UK.
As part of an NHS Improvement evaluation day, van conversion designs from four ambulance trusts were compared to see what works best. This included layout, internal design, features and how the vehicle drives.
EMAS’ Fiat Ducato conversion emerged as the clear winner.
Our design was particularly favoured because of innovative features such as trauma lighting, the pull-out draw-up surface, the standardisation of placement of medical equipment, the low centre of gravity and the smoothness of the ride.
Our van conversion is also around 20% cheaper to run than the average box conversion used by some other trusts.
The current model is the result of a lot of hard work by our Fleet team and frontline colleagues involved in developing the design.
Steve Farnsworth, Fleet General Manager, said: “I am very proud of my team who continually work to refine the design of our ambulances so that they are as comfortable, practical and safe as possible for our patients and staff.
“We have worked with other services to avoid repeating any mistakes and we are also very fortunate to have a core group of staff working on the frontline who are always willing to share their ideas.”
NHS Improvement’s ambulance vehicle specification consultation as part of the Carter review closed on 1 February.
The NHSI team is now reviewing all the responses and aims to publish the final specification during the spring.
