Small ambulance businesses and staying agile in tough times
It's new year 2020 - There you are planning the year's business of ambulance support for sport events, festivals, international repatriation and the like…and then Covid. No sport, events or live music and the international travel market decimated. In the early days of the pandemic, these, mostly small businesses were receiving hammer-blows day after day as the world shut down. But there is adaptability…an agility in the DNA of these businesses, which are built on finding a solution fast, being able to say 'yes' and work out the details later. It's this continued agility of business model (and mindset) which has helped many survive, pivot and find opportunity from the past year.
Many have found the side-step into non-emergency patient transport a logical move and have adapted well, standing up services direct with hospitals, sub-contracting or by getting onto frameworks. Welcome revenue has also come from providing staffing for Covid testing centres, quarantine hotels and the vaccine roll-out. For those with a foothold in NEPTS however, the next 12 months will be critical in the process of cementing it as another valuable long-term revenue stream.
Conditions are likely to remain favourable for some time with strong demand as the hospital backlog work ramps-up and social distancing continues to restrain vehicle capacity. And before that goes away, we'll be looking at winter pressures too. Demand though will be volatile, complex and layered, making it hard to plan any distance into the future - and will eventually come back to something close to pre-Covid levels.
So what else are these smaller ambulances businesses doing? A number are moving towards contracted ambulance services, getting skilled up on tender searches and the (not particularly intuitive) world of creating bids for NHS-commissioned contracts. And it makes sense; having developed a new NEPTS service, why not use those credentials to help win more stable long-term work, which in turn will make the business more resilient?
Sports event, gigs, festivals etc will of course return as will international travel; and when they do, indications are that demand for this type of ambulance support will be as high as pre-Covid levels and in the case of ambulance repatriation work, there's likely to be a significant spike in demand as pent-up craving for overseas trips skews the traveller profile for a time.
The ambulance sector as a whole is continuing to see significant change and Covid feels like an accelerated test run. Remaining nimble, responsive and keeping an almost semi-mobile infrastructure is an enormous asset, at whatever size of operation. Those smaller businesses which have used this to their advantage may emerge from Covid stronger, more resilient and potentially under-pinned by long-term contracts. Their challenge will be to remember that formula as they grow.
By Ed Clements, Starwood Consulting
Starwood Consulting specialises in supporting ambulance businesses to grow and improve. Our services include a tailored tender searching service which ensures our clients never miss a new opportunity. We also have an excellent track record in writing winning bids for our clients.
www.starwoodconsulting.co.uk
Please do comment or get in touch: Ed.clements@starwoodconsulting.co.uk