Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) has taken delivery of the first new Fiat Ducato emergency ambulance as part of an order for 250 vehicles.

Of these, 130 will join the service this financial year, with the remainder being delivered in 2019/2020 as part of a partnership between YAS and O&H Vehicle Conversions.

Richard Moyes, head of fleet services at YAS, said: “The vehicles were designed in conjunction with feedback from our staff, best practice from other ambulance trusts and innovative solutions from O&H.

“They are part of supporting the delivery of the new national standards for responding to emergency calls and our wider vehicle replacement plan and will ensure that our patients are provided with the highest quality care and emergency transport.”

The vehicle was presented to YAS at Beverley Ambulance Station. Attending the handover alongside the A&E operations team was YAS chief executive Rod Barnes, executive medical director Dr Julian Mark, divisional commander for Hull and East Riding Paul Mudd and sector commander of Hull and East Riding Andy Pippin.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust covers almost 6,000 square miles of varied terrain from isolated moors and dales to urban areas, coastline and inner cities and provides 24-hour emergency and healthcare services to a population of more than five million people.

The organisation receives an average of 2,500 emergency and routine calls per day and employs over 5,000 staff.

O&H has designed and built emergency vehicles, wheelchair accessible vehicles, and welfare vans for the past 30 years.

The company operates from a six-acre site which houses a purpose built 60,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility offering a high-volume vehicle build capacity.

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