No one who has needed to call on their services has ever doubted the dedication or commitment of the paramedics and ambulance crews who, day in and day out, go about their business of saving lives. But at times over the past few years, they must have felt doing their jobs was an uphill battle. Morale hit rock bottom a few years ago with a Channel 4 Despatches documentary and a subsequent damning official report in which former chief executive Mike King was accused of bullying and intimidation. That, inevitably, caused further disruption. By the beginning of this year, the service was failing.
Statistics are never exciting.
However, to the person lying critically injured after a road accident, a paramedic delayed by just a couple of minutes could signify the difference between life and death. In June, chief executive David Craig quit by mutual consent - an acknowledgement he had failed in the important job of getting ambulance crews to the scene of an accident quickly. A new man was drafted in to do the job and given the role of troubleshooter. And troubleshoot he did. Remarkably, they achieved it.