Facing ambulance estate challenges together
DATE: 2024 | LOCATION: NORTH OF ENGLAND | PROJECT AREA: STRATEGIC ADVISORY | PROJECT STATUS: COMPLETED
Sewell Advisory brought together several ambulance trusts to collaborate on the challenges they face with their respective estates.
The challenge
The Northern Ambulance Alliance consists of four ambulance trusts in the north of England. We had already been supporting some members of the alliance with estates strategies and strategic advice, and realised they faced common challenges – increasing demand, evolving service models, aging estates and a shared ambition to modernise delivery.
Each member was at a different stage of estates transformation, from initial appraisal to partial implementation of a hub-and-spoke model.
We knew the trusts would benefit from sharing their experiences, so we brought them together to discuss the obstacles preventing them from reaching their estates goals and brainstorm opportunities to collectively address those challenges.
The Solution
Prior to the workshop, we engaged with the trusts to understand the key operational challenges to set the context for the workshop and allow the estates element of the discussion to respond more appropriately to the organisational needs of each trust.
The workshop itself involved representation from all four trusts, including colleagues from estates, strategy and transformation, and those involved specifically in implementing a hub and spoke model.
We rooted the context for the workshop in those operational challenges identified, and provided insights of strategic drivers and national policy, particularly related to the emergence of the hub and spoke model and talked around perceived barriers to implementation.
The workshop was then opened up to allow each trust to share their experiences with implementation of the model, talking about where they were in the process, and what had and hadn’t worked. With the trusts all being at different stages of implementation, this was very valuable as it allowed best practice to be highlighted and lessons learned to be examined and analysed.
The result
By acting as an independent facilitator of the workshop, we were able to help the trusts develop their thinking, along with constructive, supportive challenge where appropriate to delve into the reasoning behind assumptions, decisions or plans.
The outcome was more cooperation, collaboration and dialogue between the trusts, providing a safe space for them to share their experiences and enabling them to be honest about what is, and what isn’t, going well. The attendees were able to reflect on the experiences of others and return to their organisations with a clearer idea of how they can use the collective insight and expertise to advance their own estates plans, alongside an action plan of activities they can do together for the benefit of all.
Driving ambulance estates strategies
Want to know more about our work with ambulance trusts? Discover how we wrote a full estates strategy for Yorkshire Ambulance Service.
