North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust was established on 1 July 2006 with the merger of the Cumbria, Lancashire, Mersey Regional and Greater Manchester Ambulance Services, the aim being to provide the best possible ambulance and pre-hospital care service to the people of North West England. The Trust works with other partners to develop new ways of delivering emergency and urgent healthcare to the patient. The Trust will seek to minimise unnecessary emergency hospital admissions through the provision of suitable alternative pathways of patient care and by working with our NHS partners. We will strive for patients to receive appropriate care and experience from consistently getting the right response, first time, in time and in the right place. The service covers an area of over 5,400 square miles with a population of over seven million people. The Trust employs over 5,100 staff. Almost 1,000 emergency and non-emergency vehicles operate in the region. Over one million emergency calls are received each year. In the North West, NHS 111 replaced NHS Direct in 2013. This service was introduced to make it easier for people to access local NHS healthcare services in England. It provides non-emergency medical help fast, and is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Calls are free from landlines and mobile phones.