The NHS-run London Ambulance Service (LAS) has spent around £900,000 on taking on and equipping a fleet of private ambulances, to ensure that it can cope with the extra demand during the London 2012 Olympic Games.
It is thought that around 50 ambulances will be on the streets of the capital during the Olympic Games, provided through a slew of medical and scientific sales deals.
The ambulances are being supplied by the private medical equipment companies, X9 Healthcare, AST Ambulance Service, Thames Ambulance Group and Lifecare Medics. Funding for the contracts has come from the £7.6 million provided by the Department of Health to help London cope with the strain that the surge of Olympic visitors is expected to put on health services.
Jason Killens, LAS’s assistant director of operations, said they had already experienced an increase in 999 calls, and the choice to engage with the private companies was a wise one.
He explained, “We have consciously spread the risk between four organisations, so if there's an issue with one of these four organisations we have contracted with, we only lose part of it, not all of it.”
“The skill level of these private-sector vehicles is the same as the 300 [LAS] ambulances we put out every day… Londoners needing an emergency ambulance won’t notice any difference in the quality of care [they receive].”
http://www.kirkhamyoung.co.uk/news/article/private-medical-equipment-firms-provide-olympic-ambulances-185055.html
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