ATSL and the NHS

We recognise that people have differing needs and care requirements and our people, many who have transferred from the NHS, are trained to offer support so travelling to and from hospital is as seamless and comfortable as possible.

We are focused on maintaining and, wherever possible, improving the quality of services. We have invested more than £6 million on new ambulances and cars, control centres and technology to improve the quality and performance of services for the patients we care for.

In the West Midlands we have worked with the Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Trust to help improve the experience for renal patients. We developed a new phased arrival plan to replace the existing practice which saw all patients attending for treatment at the same time. This has helped reduce patient waiting times and alleviated pressure on NHS staff.

We constantly work to improve the quality of our services

The Arriva PTS Charter:

We have established our own PTS Charter which sets out Arriva’s commitment to delivering quality standards, punctual services and safe clean vehicles while meeting patient needs and maintaining patient dignity at all times. The charter is implemented through our professional staff training and appraisal programmes.

Award winning approaches:

With the Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Trust we established a new ‘Healthcare Assistant’ service after feedback from patients via user groups.

The Healthcare Assistant looks after the wellbeing of patients after their appointments whilst waiting for their transport in the patient transport waiting area. This level of care and innovation resulted in our nomination as ‘Best Supporting Organisation’ by both the patients and staff at Chesterfield Trust for two consecutive years. We were awarded the Chesterfield Star Award for the prize in 2011, which meant a great deal to us as it is the people who use our services who both nominated and voted for us.

Improving patient comfort and reducing our impact on the environment:

In addition to investing in a fleet of modern vehicles, we have introduced progressive driver training so our people can provide a smoother ride for our patients. This approach also helps us to deliver fuel savings and reduce CO2 emissions.

We are committed to supporting and developing our employees

All our frontline staff are fully trained in basic first aid, life support and resuscitation techniques. Through our Ambuline operations we are also qualified to provide first aid and manual handling training to other UK organisations.

Our employees offer a unique insight into our operations and can help us innovate and further improve service delivery. We encourage their feedback and keep them informed through newsletters, briefings, open forums and road shows.

In all our operations we work closely with the unions to develop positive and productive working relationships. We are experienced in successfully integrating employees joining us from the NHS and we recognise and welcome the skills, experience and value they bring to ATSL.