Ambulance Operations Manager Paul Litherland (pictured third from the left) collecting the One Team Award at the Royal Society Building in London.
Colleagues at the joint Ambulance, Police and Fire station, known as South Park in Lincoln, had the honour of receiving the One Team award for their collaborative efforts amongst all three emergency services colleagues, Lincolnshire County Council, and construction, development and property corporations.
The One Team Award was one of the categories hosted by the cabinet office, recognising excellence in public sector property.
The award was presented to representatives of the project team on Tuesday 25th February 2020.
We reported in July 2019 that our ambulance colleagues were moving into South Park, with some being based at Lincoln Ambulance Station for forty years.
The move was initially met with mixed feelings for some, however this award goes to prove that the already established bonds between all three blue light services is only strengthening by the day.
Sue Cousland, General Manager for the Lincolnshire Division of EMAS said: “We are absolutely thrilled that the close collaboration with our fellow emergency service colleagues from Police and Fire has been officially recognised at a national level.
“Where we all had three old sites across the county for our emergency services, we now operate under one roof, which means not only are we are being more cost effective, we are able to provide a more effective service to the community we all serve.
"The building is superb with much better facilities for all of the staff who are based there. The two joint training rooms also provide us with very valuable opportunities to learn from and support each other, particularly in relation to structured incident de-briefs. This more detailed information means we are constantly able to further develop our response strategies."
The station has also been recognised locally, winning Development Project of the Year (over £5million) in the Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce Awards.
Police and Crime Commissioner, Marc Jones, said: “I am delighted the South Park station has been recognised by the Cabinet Office.
“As the first tri-station in the UK, the development will revolutionise the way the three emergency services work together – providing a better service to the public and doing so for less cost too.
“The station is the embodiment of the innovative spirit of agencies in Lincolnshire and is just another example of how the county is at the forefront of a pioneering approach to keeping our communities safe.”
The build was managed by Lincolnshire County Council with contractors Wilmott Dixon. It was funded by the council, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and £7.5m of government funding. The project team behind it also included Lincolnshire Police, East Midlands Ambulance Service, Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue, VINCI, Kier and Willmott Dixon.
Chief Inspector Pat Coates from Lincolnshire Police, said: "Together we've delivered a building that is modern, fit for purpose and will enable future partnership working between the emergency services to provide a better service to the public. We are already seeing some of these benefits - when responding to incidents requiring multiple agencies, staff already know each other from sharing the building enabling a better response."
