The NHS has announced that ambulance trusts in England will be given an extra £55 million to boost staff numbers ahead of winter.

The funding will help the services to recruit more 999 call handlers, crews and clinicians to work in control rooms. It will also cover the recruitment and retention of liaison officers who manage the handover of patients between ambulances and hospitals.

NHS England says that each service will decide locally how best to spend their budget to increase staffing numbers such as offering part-time workers full-time roles, recruiting extra call handlers or offering staff incentives to help with retention.

In a letter to the ten trusts, NHS leaders said that the funding would allow services to prepare for the winter period and to improve performance.

Each trust will receive a share of funding based on the number of patients they serve locally and they will be expected to start putting these measures in place as soon as possible.

Anthony Marsh, National Strategic Adviser of Ambulance Services, said: “Despite the pandemic, ambulance services have continued to respond quickly to the public when they needed emergency care. While ambulance trusts are already extremely busy, the NHS is ensuring that services have the staff they need to deal with increased demand.

“If you need urgent care, I’d urge you to go to NHS 111 online or call 111 so that you can be signposted to the best option for your needs. And if you have been inspired by the phenomenal efforts of NHS staff over the course of the pandemic, there are a variety of vital ambulance roles available, including as a call handler, and I’d encourage anyone considering a career in the NHS."