THE GREAT Western Ambulance Service is leading the way in saving the NHS up to £280m a year, according to a new report.

A continued investment in paramedic training and education by GWAS is reducing the number of patients needing to be taken to hospital A&E departments following a 999 call.

The National Audit Office report, Transforming NHS Ambulance Services, is urging ambulance services to treat more patients directly or take them to more appropriate facilities such as minor injury units.

The NAO findings show that GWAS is at the forefront of this move. In 2009/10, more than 34 per cent of 261,000 patients responded to by the trust were dealt with by the ambulance clinician attending the patient or over the phone.

In 2010/11, GWAS increased its ability to hear-and-treat and see-and-treat thanks to the introduction of a 24/7 clinical desk in its Avon control room.

It is staffed by clinicians able to provide telephone support to less serious 999 calls as well as be a source of back-up advice for paramedics and emergency care practitioners (ECPs) attending patients.

Liam Williams, GWAS director of nursing, said: “The NAO report recognises the pivotal role that ambulance services continue to play in the performance of the entire urgent and emergency care system.

“It acknowledges that the national eight-minute response standard is one of the most demanding in the world and has undoubtedly focused on ensuring those patients suffering life-threatening conditions receive a prompt response.

“For patients whose condition is not life-threatening, we are developing better ways of providing the appropriate care which is not simply about the speed of response.”

GWAS is currently half way through a programme of training its remaining 200 ambulance practitioners to become registered paramedics via a foundation degree course – as part of its strategy to have a paramedic on board every emergency vehicle responding to a 999 call from 2013.