Leagas Shafron Davis has been appointed by the Department of Health to
promote a new call prioritisation system for the ambulance service after
a three-way pitch (Campaign, 15 November).
The campaign will inform the public about the new system, which involves
prioritising calls as they come in to the ambulance service.
Crews will aim to respond to a category of ‘immediately life-threatening’ calls within eight minutes, rather than the current targets
of up to 19 minutes. Life-threatening problems currently account for
about one in four 999 ambulance calls.
The agency beat Ogilvy and Mather and Simons Palmer Clemmow Johnson to
win the business, which has an initial planned spend of pounds 500,000.
Leagas Shafron has created a campaign, currently in research, that is
expected to be unveiled early in the new year. It is likely to include
press and radio.
Mike Davis, the agency’s managing director, said: ‘It was a tricky brief
to crack, because any changes in the health services and emergency
systems are very important and give rise to strong emotional reactions.’
Leagas Shafron has worked for the COI since 1992, and also works for the
Home Office and the Inland Revenue as well as the Ambulance Service. The
agency has created successful campaigns to combat car crime, and to
promote the recruitment of special constables.
Its most recent work was for the Inland Revenue, for which it created a
cartoon taxman to raise awareness of the launch of the new self-
assessment tax scheme.
