Private ambulances—from nowhere to Government recognition in two years

Two years ago the Independent Ambulance Association (IAA) didn't exist and private ambulance companies were still being described as ‘cowboys’. Next month (April) a line-up of influential National Health Service leaders, at a conference* endorsed by a senior Government minister, will discuss the vital role these same companies play in the nation's healthcare economy.

The emergence of private ambulances reflects how much the NHS reforms are changing the healthcare landscape and more significantly, there is every likelihood they will have an even greater impact in the future. Earl Howe, Permanent Under Secretary of State for Quality at the Department of Health, has indicated his support for IAA member companies to have a role, equal to NHS ambulance trusts, in the current Keogh review of urgent and emergency care services.

With the NHS an inevitable issue in the run up to the General Election in 2015, MPs are already recognising the importance of private ambulance companies, and are making fact-finding visits to IAA members.