A £6.5m injection of capital funding has been handed to the region's ambulance service to improve facilities and services for its crews.

The money, part of the a nationwide NHS funding boost for the NHS' 70th birthday, from the Department of Health and Social Care, will be put toward fast-forwarding plans already in place to improve fleet preparation, supply and estate operations at East of England Ambulance Trust (EEAST).

Wayne Bartlett-Syree, director of strategy and sustainability at EEAST, said: 'This is a significant investment which will improve facilities and enable us to save crews time, meaning we can increase their availability to respond to patients in the community. It will help us speed up our plans to update 10 existing hubs across the region and improve facilities to clean, prepare and stock ambulances and response cars. The crew time that will be released will support our work to improve our overall performance.

'This is excellent news for our staff who absolutely recognise the benefit for patients that these changes will support. It is critical that we maximise the availability of our existing clinicians to support patients who need a response in the community.'