Ambulance UK June 2023

IN PERSON
AMBULANCE UK - JUNE
News
London’s Air Ambulance
Charity announces Anna
Bennett as new Director of
Finance, IT and Facilities
London’s Air Ambulance Charity has
announced the appointment Anna Bennett
as the charity’s new Director of Finance, IT
and Facilities.
A Chartered Accountant (FCA) with over 20
years of experience, Anna holds the ICAEW
Diploma in Charity Accounting. She has
extensive sector experience, having worked for
several national charities, including as Finance
Director for Hospice UK and as Director of
Finance and Operations for BBC Children in
Need.
In the private sphere, Anna joined
Haysmacintyre’s not-for-profit audit team
in 2013 and was promoted to be a Partner
with the firm, advising a wide range of charity
clients. In 2019 she moved into an internal role
on the firm’s Management Board, leading all
operational teams.
Outside of her professional life, Anna has been
a trustee and audit committee member for a
number of charities including NCVO and The
Money Advice Trust, as well as finding time
to enjoy live music, rugby, camping trips and
Lego.
Speaking of her appointment, Anna Bennett
said:
“I am delighted to join London’s Air Ambulance
Charity at such an important time in its history,
working with extraordinary people saving lives
every day.
“I’ve been a supporter of the charity for many
years now, even abseiling down the side of the
Royal London Hospital back in 2016 to raise
funds – although this time around I hope to
contribute with my feet firmly on the ground.
“I’m really looking forward to getting to know
the dedicated group of people who help make
the charity what it is – whether that’s the staff,
our life-saving crew or the patients across
London who we work for every day.”
Jonathan Jenkins, CEO, London’s Air
Ambulance Charity said;
“In Anna, we’ve brought someone in with
invaluable experience in charity finance and I
couldn’t be happier to have her join our team.
“Anna’s joining at a hugely important time in
our charity’s history, in the midst of our largest
ever fundraising appeal, and Anna’s expertise
will be vital as we look to achieve our ambitions
over the next few years.”
London’s Air Ambulance delivers an advanced
trauma team to critically injured patients when
time is critical and serves the 10 million people
living and working within London. The charity
is the only one of its kind in London to perform
immediate life-saving medical procedures
normally only found in a hospital emergency
department at the scene of an incident. Since
launching 34 years ago, the service has treated
over 45,000 patients.
NEAS News
Ambulance service
welcomes new Director of
Paramedicine back to the
North East
Brand new role on the Trust Board aims
to strengthen clinical leadership and give
paramedics more representation
A new Director of Paramedicine and Allied
Health Professionals is preparing to join the
Board at North East Ambulance Service
(NEAS).
Andrew Hodge is returning to where his
ambulance career began to take on the
new role, where he will be responsible for
influencing, shaping and leading strategy,
policy and clinical transformation both within
NEAS and as part of the wider regional and
national health and social care systems.
NEAS will become only the fifth ambulance
service in the UK to appoint such a role to the
Board, which is expected to provide visible and
proactive leadership for our clinical workforce.
Andrew first joined the ambulance service in
1995, working on the patient transport service
in Berwick, before moving to Newcastle on
qualifying as a paramedic in 1999.
His interests took him into corporate services,
implementing pre-hospital electrocardiograms
(ECGs) and thrombolysis before leaving the
ambulance service to work for five years in the
community as an advanced practitioner, which
he left to work in commissioning.
He spent six years as a consultant paramedic
at Yorkshire Ambulance Service, where he
found a keen interest in leading on research
and publications as well as developing the
profession’s clinical career framework around
specialist and advanced practice.
Most recently, he has been the Director of
Allied Health Professions at Mid-Yorkshire
Hospitals NHS Trust, where he has learned the
complexities of delivering acute services across
three hospital sites and across the community.
Through this role, he was also responsible
for nine different allied health professional
groups, leading on their career development
and representing their voices across the senior
leadership teams.
He is now looking forward to bringing the
experience he has gained from different parts
of the system back to NEAS in his new role.
He said: “Over the years, I have taken myself
out of my professional comfort zone to develop
into advanced and consultant practice level
roles. Here, I have helped drive paramedicine
forward whilst gaining a huge amount of
experience which I can now bring back to
the ambulance service where my paramedic
identity fits most easily.
“I believe this new role is a unique and
important development for paramedicine.
I want to maximise the contribution that
the paramedic profession can have on the
services our patients receive, and develop
career opportunities for our workforce so that
they can, in turn, develop their skills through
research, teaching and expert practice to help
influence the profession’s direction of travel
further.
“I’m looking forward to working with my new
colleagues to understand what it is they want
from their professions and from their careers
and, ultimately, being their voice on the board,
ensuring their views are heard more clearly.
“I’m also looking forward to working with
our regional partners to understand how
the paramedic profession can best help the
system.”
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For further recruitment vacancies visit: www.ambulanceukonline.com