HIGH-performing ambulance crews in Lancashire will pass on their expertise to colleagues across the country under a new Government scheme.

Health ministers have set up a partnership to help ambulance trusts improve performance by sharing good practice.

And David Hill, chief executive of Lancashire Ambulance Service, said he was looking forward to sharing good ideas developed in the county with other trusts.

The service is in the top three trusts in England for achieving waiting targets and was praised in a recent report by watchdog Commission for Health Improvement Ambulance.

Mr Hill said: "This is a very encouraging development for ambulance services, providing a significant national focus on our work.

"It recognises that up and down the country, ambulance services are introducing initiatives which should be shared to benefit patients.

"Over recent years the range of clinical and diagnostic skills of our paramedics has grown immeasurably and they are now recognised as a key component in delivering pre-hospital emergency care."

He said Lancashire was at the forefront in life-saving initiatives such as giving clot-busting thrombolytic drugs to heart attack victims before they get to hospital.

Other initiatives such as training and equipping more than 700 Community First Responder volunteers, funded through the Heart of Lancashire Appeal, had provided speedy help in rural areas.

Mr Hill said: "We acknowledge that we do not have a monopoly on good ideas.

"We look forward to learning from the experience of others on how we can do things even better and so contribute to improving the effectiveness of emergency services within Lancashire, aimed at providing better outcomes for patients."