South Central Ambulance Service
| South Central Ambulance Service | |
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Map of the South Central Ambulance Service's coverage
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| Created | 1 July 2006 |
| Made foundation | 1 March 2012 |
| Region served | Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire |
| Area size | 3,554 mi2 |
| Population | > 4,000,000 |
| Type | NHS Foundation Trust |
| Chair | Trevor Jones |
| Chief Exec | Will Hancock |
| Website | www |
South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) is the authority responsible for providing NHS ambulance services in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire in the South East England region. It is one of 10 NHS Ambulance Trusts providing England with emergency medical services, and is part of the National Health Service, receiving direct government funding for its role. There is no charge to patients for use of the service, and under the Patient's Charter, every person in the United Kingdom has the right to the attendance of an ambulance in an emergency.
As an ambulance service, SCAS primarily responds to emergency 999 calls, in addition to calls from the NHS non-emergency number (111).
The service also provides an emergency transport service for patients in life-threatening condition and a Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service (NEPTS). The NEPTS transports patients unable to use public transport due to their medical conditions, patients using outpatient clinics and patients being admitted or discharged from hospital. The Trust also has a commercial division, which provides first aid training to members of the public, a community equipment service and logistic services.
It has a resilience and specialist operations department which plans for major or hazardous incidents. This includes a Hazardous Area Response Team (HART), which responds to emergencies involving chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear materials, as well as major incidents. The Trust also trains and supports volunteer community first responders.
It is the only NHS ambulance organisation in the UK to be supported by its own League of Friends, a registered charity. The South Central Ambulance League of Friends raises funds that are used to enhance the standard of care for patients, provide additional benefits for service personnel, encourage the acquisition of essential life-support skills among the public, and support the deployment of volunteer community first responders. This group had been founded in 1982 to raise funds for the former Oxfordshire Ambulance NHS Trust.
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