Ambulance

Focus on Ambulance Leadership Forum 2016
LEADERSHIP THE KEY AT ALF 2016
A sense of optimism at a time of great challenges for the urgent and emergency care system merged
with the resounding message that UK NHS ambulance services will need stronger leadership than ever
to survive and thrive in the future, were two of the key themes to emerge from the highly successful
Ambulance Leadership Forum (ALF) 2016 held in February.
The event - produced annually by the
Association of Ambulance Chief Executives
(AACE) - is now the major place for senior
ambulance staff and their colleagues in
industry and from across the wider NHS
and academic landscapes to meet, network
and discuss the topics that are topping the
agenda for today’s UK ambulance service
leaders.
ALF 2016 was held in Leicester and
attracted over two hundred delegates
over the two days, drawn from all UK
NHS ambulance services and their key
partners from across the health sector. The
first day saw a busy series of conference
presentations that sparked some lively
debates across the floor.
Chair of the conference – award-winning
BBC and Channel 4 journalist Liz MacKean
- was able to persuade the participants to
provide insight and share knowledge and
ideas on a range of ambulance management
topics.
Never far from the debate, though, was the
spectre of the unprecedented and growing
demand for ambulance services, combined
with the stark reality of the genuine
pressures being felt throughout the whole
urgent and emergency care system.
Spring 2016 | Ambulancetoday
Prof. Paresh Wankhade, one of the main speakers.
Professor Keith Willet discussed this in detail
and outlined what NHS England are doing
to combat these issues, while simultaneously
urging ambulance leaders to be brave and
to adopt innovative approaches to managing
their resources.
Privately some audience members may
have been forgiven for wondering how
much more they could do and how much
faster they could go to implement changes,
although the mood in the room remained
upbeat and Professor Willet was, as always, a
most welcome and informative speaker.
Regrettably, the Secretary of State Jeremy
Hunt was a last minute cancellation and the
audience was instead played a recorded
message from Lord Prior of Brampton,
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for
NHS Productivity (Minister responsible for
Urgent and Emergency Care) who thanked
ambulance services for the hard work being
done to continue to save lives and treat
patients in such challenging times.
The evening saw a magnificent gala
dinner - kindly sponsored by the ALF
AACE Chair Anthony Marsh thanks outgoing
NWAS Chief Bob Williams
2016 main sponsor Ferno ® - where the
AACE Outstanding Service Awards were
presented to high performing staff from
across England.
Two other features of the evening were a
charity auction that raised over £1,000 in aid
of The Ambulance Services Charity (TASC
- www.theAsc.org.uk) and an amusing
and light-hearted send-off by AACE chair
Anthony Marsh for North West Ambulance
Service Chief Executive Officer Bob Williams
who is retiring after 36 years in the NHS.
Day two provided a series of workshops
where the topics were as follows: ‘Our
Workforce,’ ‘Technological and Digital
Enablement’ and ‘Vanguards and Innovation.’
These workshops sparked more healthy
debates and delegates left with new ideas
and renewed vigour to take back to their
trusts. The event finished with meetings of
the national groups.
A full report on ALF2016 and the
full workshop presentation slides are
available at:
AACE.org.uk/ambulance-leadershipforum
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