The new National Ambulance Service is launched
On 1 July, the new National Ambulance Service (NAS) officially launched. Following a transformation of the ambulance service in less than two years, the 48 separate stations have been merged into a single service with headquarters in Kaunas. The new organisation will provide care to the population according to uniform standards and improve working conditions for ambulance staff.
Speaking about the establishment of the new service, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė pointed out that until now, ambulance services have been provided in a decentralised manner, which has led to significant differences in terms of technical facilities, working conditions and workload.
"All these issues could only be solved by a single ambulance organisation, which we have after almost two years of preparatory work. Today, this new Authority is operational and has ambitious goals and objectives, the main one being to be the one that the Lithuanian population trusts. I congratulate the staff of the Service on its new start, wish them every success in achieving their goals and objectives and in building an even greater authority than NAS enjoys today," - I. Šimonytė.
The new service will be based in Kaunas and will have four regional offices in Vilnius, Klaipėda, Panevėžys and Šiauliai, which will coordinate the activities of ambulance stations throughout the country. The service brings together nearly three thousand employees - doctors, paramedics, drivers, and other professionals - and is one of the largest employers in the country.
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"In terms of ambulance services, we were probably the last in the European Union not to have a single service. Now the situation is changing and there are no more grey areas where people did not get help or did not get it in time. The foundations have been laid for a modern, European-style national ambulance service, where everyone feels safe - staff and patients alike", says Health Minister Arūnas Dulkys.
To congratulate the ambulance community on this memorable event and the launch of the new service, Minister of Health Arūnas Dulkys, together with the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Health, Social Policy and Disabled Persons, Živilė Gudlevičienė, and the head of the new service, Nerijus Mikelionis, lit up the art installation "Chance" by artist Agnė Kišonaitė.
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The installation symbolizes patients' gratitude to ambulance staff for their daily efforts and care in saving lives. The event also honored Kaunas NAS medics, who took 1st place in the international GMP team category at the Ambulance Games Rallye Rejviz 2023 in the Czech Republic.
NAS is one of the largest organizations in the health system in terms of the scale of its activities. Last year alone, AS dispatching centers received nearly one million calls from the public, with more than 714,000 departures and nearly 678,000 people receiving medical assistance.
"The merger of the services is important for both current and future employees. Everyone wants to work in a modern, reliable organization. For an ambulance worker, it means modern technology to save lives, constant updating of knowledge, working with the right size of team, and of course, decent, and safe working conditions, a clear motivational and career system. We will strive to be attractive to future employees, who will be needed both due to the expansion of services and the natural turnover of existing staff," said N. Mikelionis, Head of the Ambulance Service.
The European Union's investment in a single GMP service amounts to around €50 million. It will be used to upgrade infrastructure and facilities, including new GMP vehicles with modern equipment, digitalization, training of GMP specialists and retraining of GMP drivers.
The new Ambulance Service will operate as a separate legal entity under the Ministry of Health.