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Services we offer

In this section you'll find information about the services that NEAS provides to the public. Full details of the operational services can be found here: who we are and what we do. 

Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) continues to work closely with NEAS in providing:

• Advice and support to patients, their families and carers
• Information on NHS Services
• A point of contact to listen to patient's concerns, suggestions or queries
• Help in sorting out problems quickly on behalf of the patient.

You may wish to raise your concerns with someone who is not involved in your care. The Patient Advice and Liaison can be contacted on Freephone 0800 032 0202. You can find out more about PALS from this website by clicking here

The Trust and the environment 

The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) acknowledges that as a major provider of services to the community our operations and activities will inevitably have an impact on the environment. We are committed to ensuring this impact is minimalised within all our key areas of operation; this is demonstrated within our Environmental Policy Statement.

The Trust is now two financial years through a 7 year Carbon Trust accredited Carbon Management Plan. The plan commits NEAS to a challenging reduction in CO2 of 30% by 2020 from a 2012/13 baseline and focuses on reductions in fossil fuel use in our estate and fleet as well as reducing waste to landfill. We have a target of zero waste to landfill by the end of 2018.

The results so far have been outstanding; the Trust has seen a 25% reduction in electricity and a 33% reduction in gas usage since the baseline year 2012/13. This has been achieved through investing in renewable technologies and ensuring our properties are heated and powered in the most efficient way possible.

NEAS is committed to the work we are doing to reduce our impact on the environment and a board level quarterly Environmental Management Working Group ensures progress on the sustainability agenda. The Trust also has a team of voluntary staff ‘Eco Champions’ who directly contribute to our environmental improvements.

We were very proud to be the only UK Ambulance Service shortlisted for an Improving Environmental & Sustainability HSJ Award in 2015, along with two winning categories; Waste & Transport in the 2016 NHS Sustainability Awards.

The Environmental Information Regulations gives any person the right to access recorded information about the environment that NEAS holds. 

Communications and media

The ambulance service is never very far away from the news.

The work we do brings us into regular contact with events which make the front page of a newspaper, or the lead item on a radio or television bulletin.

On a daily basis we take calls from UK journalists enquiring about accidents, illnesses, policies and campaigns.

The job of the communications team is to make sure the right facts are reported, hopefully by developing good relationships with journalists. We often have a great story to tell.

You can contact the Communications office on 0191 430 2099

Engagement with patients

We aim to provide as high a quality service to our patients as possible - and one of the best ways of finding out if we are doing things right is by talking to them directly. We regularly survey patients on their views, and hold continuous discussions with local authority health overview and scrutiny committees (OSCs) and local HealthWatch Groups about service delivery and developments. Both of these patient and local government groups have inspection rights and responsibilities for reporting their findings on NEAS.

Engagement with staff

Our staff are the first point contact for patients and public and it's important that the principals and values of the NHS - nationally, regionally and locally - are understood and upheld. 

The team's activities include the development of new staff communications channels as well as supporting the existing ones (such as the staff newsletter), maintenance of the Intranet, holding events, and focus groups.

Engagement with communities

The NHS is being held increasingly more accountable and NEAS is also increasingly dependent on the wider community to help deliver objectives. Our goal is to ensure that there are sufficient resources for good communications to be planned, managed and evaluated across the 3,200 square miles that we cover. Now we are a Foundation Trust, this means that we have a membership that have an influence on decisions made and reflect the communities that we serve. Therefore another goal is to ensure that resources are in place to support this membership.