Ambulance Services ― Leadership and Management Perspectives

This volume provides fresh insights and management understanding of the changing role of the ambulance services against the backdrop of massive cuts in health budgets around the world and the changing context of pre-hospital care within the wider healthcare networks. The challenges of funding, training and cultural transformation are now felt globally. The need to learn and adapt from suitable models of ambulance service delivery have never been greater. The book offers critical insights into the theory and practice of strategic and operational management of ambulance services and the leadership needs for the service. One of the highlight of this volume is to bring together scholarship using experts- academics, practitioners and professionals in the field, to each of the chosen topics. The chapters are based in the practical experiences of the authors and are written in a way that is accessible and suitable for a range of audiences. We are confident that this book will cater to a wider audience to inform policy and practice, both in the UK and internationally.

Paresh Wankhade is Professor of Leadership and Management at Edge Hill University, UK

Kevin Mackway-Jones is the Medical Director at North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust, UK

Endorsements

“This unique and valuable publication, charts the history and development of the ambulance service in England over the last hundred years or so. The role of this key emergency service has always been important, and arguably never more so than today. The contributing authors have not only provided the reader with great insights into where the service has come from and the leadership challenges it has, and continues to face; it also gives examples of how the future could look as our journey of transformation continues.”

Peter Bradley CBE, MBA (and author of Taking Healthcare to the Patient 2005), Chief Executive Officer. St John National Headquarters, New Zealand

"With a year on year increase in demand for emergency ambulances and over 9 million calls annually, the UK Ambulance Service must change from its emergency care and transport focus model. With the increase in professionalism of paramedics and an uplift in assessment and clinical skills the modern paramedic is increasingly able to treat at home, direct patients with alternative care pathways and avoid transportation to overburdened Emergency Departments. Whilst there is some historical and cultural resistance to change there is a need for further development in clinical skills and a new perspective for the future Ambulance Service. This book brings together practitioners, managers, academics and provides a broad understanding of the major management issues in the UK Ambulance Service. It includes the history of the Ambulance Service, quality and risk management issues, commissioning, leadership, intra-operability and shape of the future ambulance service. The content will be of interest to students, practitioners and academics".

Sir Keith Porter, Professor of Clinical Traumatology, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom

Paresh Wankhade is the Professor of Leadership and Management at Edge Hill University Business School. He has a PhD in Ambulance Performance & Culture Change Management from the University of Liverpool, UK. He is the founder Editor ofInternational Journal of Emergency Services (an Emerald group Publication) and is recognised as an expert in the field of emergency management. He has chaired special tracks on leadership and management of emergency services at major international conferences including the annual European Academy of Management (EURAM) Conference; British Academy of Management Conference and Public Administration Committee (PAC) Conference. His research and publications focus on analyses of strategic leadership, organisational culture, organisational change and interoperability within the emergency services. His publications have contributed to inform debates around interoperability of public services and challenges faced by individual organisations. His latest book onSocial Capital, Sociability and Community Development explores these issues including the state of the pre-hospital care in eight selected case-study countries (UK, USA, China, India, Bangladesh, Japan, Netherlands and South Africa) around the world.

Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, United Kingdom

Kevin Mackway-Jones was appointed Consultant at Manchester Royal Infirmary in 1993 and became Professor in 2001. He has published widely on the practice and theory of Emergency Medicine, both books (Advanced Paediatric Life Support, Major Incident Medical Management and Support, Emergency Triage amongst others) and academic papers. His main research interests are diagnostic strategies, psychosocial care and major incident management. As well as consulting at Manchester Royal Infirmary and the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital he is also Executive Medical Director of the North West Ambulance Service, Civilian Consultant Advisor to the British Army, and Head of the North Western School of Emergency Medicine. He developed and is webmaster for www.bestbets.org and the St Emlyn’s Virtual Hospital through which he runs an MSc in Emergency Medicine. He was editor in chief of the Emergency Medicine Journal from 2005 – 2013.

North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust, Bolton, United Kingdom