NHS 75: London Ambulance Service installs ambulance from 1948 at HQ
To mark the 75th anniversary of the NHS, the London Ambulance Service has brought a vehicle out of retirement to be seen at its headquarters,
A historic Daimler ambulance will be displayed outside the Waterloo Road headquarters in Southwark, which entered service a few months after the birth of the health service in 1948.
A small number of representatives from the Service will also partake in a national celebration at Westminster Abbey to pay tribute to NHS staff and patients.
They will include motorcycle paramedic Richard Webb-Stevens, who has campaigned to make the profession more accessible to those with hearing impairments and who received a Queen’s Ambulance Service Medal for distinguished service last year.
Daniel Elkeles, chief executive at London Ambulance Service, said: “The NHS is a huge part of national life touching the lives of every one of us at some point.
“The selfless dedication and extraordinary sense of duty of those who have worked for the NHS over the past 75 years to provide care has saved or transformed literally millions of lives.
“My most heartfelt thanks goes to everyone who has been part of the history of this much-loved institution.
“And to our ambulance crews, control room staff, 111 call handlers, cleaners, mechanics, Make Ready teams and all those who work to keep London Ambulance Service functioning 24 hours a day – I am immensely proud of you and your work is hugely appreciated!”
Pictured top: The 1948 Daimler ambulance on display at LAS headquarters in Warterloo Road (Picture: LAS)
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