A new ambulance hub serving East and North Hertfordshire has opened in Stevenage today.
The modern base – at the Motorway Industrial Estate in Babbage Road – will house between 30 and 40 emergency response vehicles, including ambulances, and 200 staff in a state-of-the-art staff headquarters.
The town’s MP Stephen McPartland officially opened the new facility, which is owned by the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust.
He said: “I am delighted we have so many ambulances and talented professionals based here in Stevenage at the new hub. It is incredible the transformation that has taken place inside the building and the crews seem to be really enjoying it. I am proud of the continuing massive investment in our local NHS, which is making Stevenage a centre of clinical excellence.”
Mr McPartland was joined by councillors, NHS colleagues, EEAST staff and volunteers to celebrate the new hub, which was converted by Luton-based Neville Special Projects Ltd.
The 24/7 hub has two training spaces, a staff rest area, locker and shower facilities, wellbeing room and computer room.
It also has a make-ready facility where ambulances and response cars are cleaned, prepared and stocked for front-line duties.
The facility was converted as part of a £1 million investment project in Hertfordshire, which included progressing the Letchworth ambulance station into a stores facility and improving a depot base at Watford.
Robert Morton, chief executive of EEAST, said: “I want to thank everyone for joining us today as we celebrate this great milestone. This new site gives our staff better facilities to work from and a better base to respond to our patients and I would like to thank our staff for supporting this change.
“The opening of this excellent new ambulance hub is the culmination of a lot of hard work by many people.”
It forms part of a plan to create a network of modern hubs and community ambulance stations across the region over the next five years.
Steve Davey – senior locality manager for East and North Hertfordshire, and who is based at the new station – added: “The new hub is much more effective than our previous space given the number of vehicles we now have in the local area. It forms part of a wider network of sites in Hertfordshire that ensures our staff and vehicles are located and managed in the most efficient way to deliver the best care we can to patients.”
The small ambulance station at Stevenage Fire Station in St George’s Way, Stevenage, will remain in operation.
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