West Midlands Ambulance Service - Maintenance Works

West Midlands Ambulance Service provides medical assistance for 5.6 million people across Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Coventry, Birmingham and the Black Country.

WMAS respond to around 3,000 ‘999’ calls each day. To manage this level of demand, they currently employ 4,000 staff and require fully operational facilities to support their 24 hour, 7 days a week service.

Successfully appointed by WMAS in 2015, J Tomlinson was contracted to provide planned and reactive maintenance works across 90 Community Ambulance Stations.

Every month on the contract we provide planned and reactive services to over 100 sites across the West Midlands. The scope of planned maintenance works includes mechanical and electrical, building and grounds maintenance. This could vary from servicing boilers and fire alarms to clearing and gritting path ways. We also provide a reactive maintenance service for mechanical, electrical and building works, operating 24/7 to ensure the building remains safe and operational at all times. The scope of works range from fixing light bulbs to ensuring any issues with shore lines (vehicle chargers) are resolved immediately. As the annual budget for the NHS has significantly reduced, our multi-skilled engineers are proactive in carrying out regular site checks, providing additional services to reduce call out charges.

Working closely with WMAS during mobilisation, we were able to identify key service requirements and suggest low maintenance cost alternatives. We also provide the client with an interactive service, allowing them to track and monitor engineers across all sites. Due to the high demand and rapid response WMAS provides to the public, we make certain noise, dust and vibration disruption is minimised, arranging works around staff activity.

Although the contract is ongoing, J Tomlinson remains in line with current KPI targets and on programme. Our reliable and proactive service has led to a close relationship with the client. This has provided J Tomlinson with additional opportunities with WMAS, including the construction of the new £2 million Stoke Ambulance Station. The Stoke-on-Trent Station will be the largest across the West Midlands.

Flexible workforce – the nature and geographical spread of the works required a tailored service to respond to the peaks and troughs of client demands. During ‘peak demand’ we are able to provide an out of hour’s service to maintain building operations and minimise disruption.

Client understanding – during the first three months of the contract, J Tomlinson worked closely with the client to understand station activities, site layout and client expectations. This formed the basis of J Tomlinson’s solution, seeking regular feedback off the client for continuous improvement. We utilised engineers from our previous WMAS headquarters project to ensure the needs of the client were understood and met.

Minimising costs – our engineers have been praised by the client for providing additional services during call outs, reducing fees and providing WMAS with an excellent value for money.