The North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) NHS Trust has awarded a new, four-year contract to Medical Gas Solutions (MGS) – one that will see MGS supply vital medical gases to NWAS’ 1,000 emergency vehicles across the North West.
MGS (a subsidiary of leading energy company Flogas Britain Ltd) will supply both oxygen and analgesic gases to NWAS vehicles, which service a population of seven million people across Cheshire and Merseyside, Cumbria and Lancashire and Greater Manchester.
Daren Hopkinson, head of procurement at NWAS says: “As one of the largest ambulance trusts in England, it’s crucial to work with a medical gas supplier that we can rely on 100%. Our emergency crews attend more than 952,000 incidents each year on average, so it’s vital we have access to a full range of quality products matched with a delivery service we can truly trust. MGS provides just this, plus they manage all aspects of our gas supply for us, so we can concentrate on the important job at hand.”
NWAS will make use of MGS’s vast medical gas portfolio, from lightweight, portable medical oxygen and nitronox cylinders to larger 10L units. It is also benefiting from MGS’s fully managed service offering, which provides complete stock control along with flexible, free deliveries. As part of the contract, MGS is also supplying medical gases to NWAS’ non-emergency patient transport service, which makes in excess of one million journeys each year.
MGS managing director Steve Gullick adds: “We’ve actually been working with NWAS since 2008, so we’re delighted to be re-awarded such an important contract following what was a highly competitive tender process. This win is confirmation that we’re continuing to do a great job for NWAS, ensuring healthcare professionals in the North West always have the very best equipment on board.”
Alongside the new contract with NWAS, MGS has more recently been re-awarded contracts with the West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) and the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) NHS Trust, and has also won the contract to supply the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT).
Additionally, MGS provides every ambulance service in the UK with its rapid-response, multi-patient emergency oxygen solution, as part of the National Ambulance Resilience Unit (NARU). A breakthrough for emergency services, its MPU 300 unit allows professionals to quickly and effectively treat multiple casualties in the aftermath of a major incident.
Steve Gullick concluded: “We’re extremely proud to be supplying so many of the UK’s ambulance fleets – along with fire and police services – with vital, life-saving gases. We’re looking forward to developing our relationship with them, and helping to expand their emergency preparedness.”
