Blackpool's state-of-the-art new ambulance station is now operational

The new station in South Shore boasts state-of-the-art facilities aimed at improving working conditions for staff and cutting down the time it takes for them to get on the road.

North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) will now move to a ‘hub and spoke’ system as part of its plans to modernise the service.

It means ambulance stations at Fleetwood, Lytham, Wesham and Thornton will close, with vehicles and their crews starting their shifts at carefully identified ‘spoke’ locations in the vicinity of the old sites instead.

These could include health centres, fire stations and police stations.

A spokesperson for NWAS said: “I can confirm that the new station is complete and fully operational, with almost all staff migrated over from all the stations across the sector.”

An official opening ceremony for the new station is due to be held on March 14.

Construction of the new station began at the start of 2022, following demolition of the old station which was built in 1980.

The new three-storey hub contains office and meeting areas, communal spaces and storage and preparation areas.

There is also an attached double height bay where ambulances will be prepared for their next shift by a specialist team so they are ready as soon as crews arrive.

A report to members of Blackpool Council’s Adult Social Care and Health Scrutiny Committee last October said: “The newly developed site at Blackpool will provide staff with a hugely improved base with lockers and deep cleaning, parking and training facilities.

“Its design is incorporating a better infection control environment and will enable us to install a ‘make ready’ facility.

“At present staff, at the start of their shift, stock check vehicles but this new service will mean that a specialist team will do this work, so an ambulance crew can report to the station and immediately become available to respond to patients.”

During construction of the new station, paramedics had been operating out of a temporary base on the site of the former Devonshire Road Hospital in North Shore.