THE North East Ambulance Service has appointed a new strategic head of its Emergency Operations Centre.

Sue Tucker, 49, will be in charge of the day to day management of the ambulance operations centres answering the North-East’s 999 and NHS 111 calls and will be responsible for ensuring NEAS delivers high levels of performance, clinical standards and patient satisfaction.

Mrs Tucker joins NEAS after four years working in the Channel Islands as a senior officer for the States of Guernsey, in the Office of the Committee for Health and Social Care.

Mrs Tucker qualified as Registered General Nurse, beginning her career in an acute hospital before moving onto role of nurse advisor in an early NHS Direct pilot site, providing healthcare advice and information on the telephone, which has now been replaced with NHS111.

She said: “I’m genuinely delighted to be joining the team at NEAS and having been given the opportunity to work within an organisation that has such a strong reputation for quality.”