Private health firm in ambulance calls deal
A British private healthcare provider today unveiled a landmark deal to take on non-emergency calls from an ambulance trust.
In a “ground-breaking” partnership, Care UK said out-of-hours calls from the Essex Ambulance Trust would be referred to it when emergency treatment was not needed.
The company, which operates care homes as well as a rapid response team to provide short-term emergency care, said the £1.7m (€2.4m) contract, which will cover around a fifth of Essex, could eventually cut the number of unnecessary ambulance call-outs by more than half.
If the two-year scheme is successful it could be expanded to other parts of the UK.
All 999 calls and requests for family doctors made out of normal working hours will go to the existing ambulance trust call centre, where staff will decide what kind of treatment is necessary.
This could result in an ambulance being sent out, advice being given over the phone or the call being diverted to Care UK’s own centre, where it would arrange to pick up the patient and bring him or her in for treatment.
Care UK chief executive Mike Parish described the contract as a “ground-breaking” step that could clear the way for similar partnerships elsewhere.
He said Care UK would help by “liberating” NHS resources, adding: “I think it is a very interesting way forward.
“We are great admirers of the NHS. It’s a superb organisation, but it’s a big organisation and it can be difficult to make things happen.”
Care UK, based in Colchester, Essex, employs around 9,000 staff and has operations all over the UK.
