Ambulance chief executive wanted

Regular readers will know that Audlem Online has campaigned for over two years to achieve a better ambulance service in Audlem and the rural areas of south Cheshire. The North West Ambulance Service's statistics about how long it has taken an ambulance to arrive at a series of incidents have been challenged both on-line, in other media and face-to-face, including village representatives meeting with the chief executive of the NWAS.

The chief executive, we can now confirm, has resigned – we are sure this is purely co-incidental – and his job has been advertised in the national press. This provides an ideal opportunity for those locally that would like to improve this vital emergency service from the inside to apply for the job.

The job ad says that: "This is an exciting time for NWAS. As well as embarking on the journey towards foundation trust status, NWAS has activated an education programme designed to transform clinical services, enabling its clinicians to deliver urgent healthcare directly to patients. This change programme will result in far-reaching improvements in addressing patient needs and enable NWAS to be a vital partner in the provision of healthcare in the North West."

Call us old fashioned, but getting an ambulance to a 999 patient in good time might be a little more important than foundation trust status to people round here. To get that sort of gutsy job on the agenda, it may be necessary to apply for the job.

If you are a "visionary leader with proven strategic skills built upon strong operational experience," you have to get your application in by 27th May – by noon that day, it says in the ad – but that strict time target might be as flexible as the 8 and 19 minutes targets to get an ambulance to Audlem!

You can get further information about the job by contacting Saxton Bampfylde – we think that's a company name and not a man with cruel parents – at www.saxbam.com/jobs and quoting reference YGWA/ST or by phone on 020 7227 0890 during office hours. We think the job will come with a very attractive salary.

More shortly on NWAS and how an official enquiry was agreed to by the ambulance chiefs into a serious Audlem incident earlier this year where the time it took for the ambulance to arrive has been hotly disputed. This follows pressure by Audlem Parish Councillor Mike Hill. The enquiry has been carried out by a non-executive director of the NWAS.

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