NWAS Strategy 2026 - 2031 and Values
We are celebrating 20 years of serving communities across the region by launching a new five-year plan to improve patient care, tackle inequalities and give people a stronger voice in how our services are delivered.
Formed in 2006, we have grown into one of the largest ambulance services in the country, serving more than 7.5 million people across Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire.
Over the past 20 years, our service has changed from mainly responding to 999 emergencies to providing a wider range of care, including NHS 111, clinical advice over the phone, and helping patients access the right support in their community or at home, often avoiding a trip to hospital.
Each year, we handle more than 1.4 million emergency calls and 1.8 million NHS 111 calls. We also take over a million patients to routine appointments and treat hundreds of thousands of people at home or in the community.
The new plan for 2026 – 2031 sets out how our service will continue to respond to rising demand, more complex patient needs and ongoing health inequalities across the North West.
Its four priorities are:
- providing outstanding care to patients
- building a safe and supportive culture for staff
- working more closely with other NHS services to deliver joined-up care
- continuing to improve and modernise how care is delivered
The plan has been shaped not just by staff and partners, but by patients and the public. We are strengthening opportunities for people to share their experiences and influence our services through surveys, feedback and our patient and public panel.
Improving patient experience is a key measure of success, with a focus on listening, learning and designing services around the needs of local communities.
We have kept our purpose statement and values unchanged in the updated strategy because they continue to provide a clear anchor for everything we do, reminding us why our organisation exists and what unites us across all roles and services.
Our purpose:
To help people when they need us most.
Our vision:
To deliver the right care, at the right time, in the right place; every time by 2031.
Our aims:
Our aims are the areas we need to focus on to achieve our vision to deliver the right care, at the right time, in the right place; every time.
Provide outstanding, inclusive care for everyone we serve
We will provide consistently high-quality, safe and compassionate care for our communities, reducing unwarranted variation and tackling health inequalities. Our population will experience timely access to care, strong clinical outcomes and a service that listens and improves using their feedback.
Build a safe, supportive and inclusive culture together
Our leaders create a compassionate, inclusive and supportive workplace culture, where everyone has a voice, can be at their best and is supported to improve and develop.
Deliver a responsive care model through partnerships
We will optimise our delivery model and work closely with partners so that care is coordinated, equitable and responsive to population needs.
Embed continuous improvement and innovation for a sustainable future
We will embed a culture of learning and improvement that drives productivity and delivers clinical, operational, workforce, financial and environmental sustainability.
Our Values
Our values are the behaviours that underpin all that we do. They describe how we should approach our work. They can be found in our systems and processes, from appraisal paperwork to planning tools for large-scale projects for change. Putting our values into practice supports us to provide compassionate care and improve outcomes and experiences for our people, patients and communities.
Working together
We work together to understand and value every role in achieving our shared purpose. We live and breathe inclusivity; everyone matters.
Being at our best
We challenge ourselves to be the best we can be. We are curious and push boundaries to improve everything we do.
Making a difference
We make a difference through doing the right thing by our staff, patients, partners and communities. We act with compassion and kindness.
Be Think Do
Our leadership philosophy
‘Be Think Do’ is our leadership philosophy which underpins our leadership and development offer. We encourage all staff to embrace the Be Think Do principles, an ethos which encourages us all to consider not only what we do, but how we do things. Placed at the heart of this model is the commitment to understanding your purpose and being a healthy role model – for yourself and your colleagues.
Be Think Do sets out a number of behavioural indicators which show our leadership values and culture embedded within each and every touchpoint of our leadership lifecycle – from recruitment through to talent management.
Our leadership offer is tailored to varying levels, enabling everyone to identify where they are on their leadership journey and how they can reach their full potential.
