Transforming NHS Ambulance Services

A statement from The Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts:

This is an important report and raises significant issues which the Public Accounts Committee will want to pursue with the Department of Health.

We will want to explore how the ambulance service intends to achieve efficiency savings of at least 4% a year by 2014-15 without damaging services, when the number of emergency calls has been increasing at a rate of 4% a year.

Will it be more difficult to deliver the required efficiency savings under the new NHS structure? We will want to understand how a reconfigured NHS will be able to secure economies of scale and incentivise greater cooperation between trusts.

We will also scrutinise the role of the Department, including how it intends to achieve better integration of ambulance services with other parts of the emergency care system in order to deliver greater cost-effectiveness.

We look forward to exploring these vital issues with senior officials when they come before us in a few weeks' time.