THE word 'ambulance' is set to disappear from the new title of the NHS trust that provides emergency ambulance services in Wales, if Welsh Government proposals are approved.

The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust will be renamed the Welsh Emergency and Clinical Services NHS Trust, subject to a newly-launched consultation exercise that will end on February 13.

A name change was among proposals made as a result of a wide-ranging review of the service in Wales earlier this year, triggered by deteriorating performance figures.

It is intended, according to a report accompanying the proposals out for consutlation, to reflect the clinical and emergency services the Welsh Government wants it to deliver to the people of Wales.

Also being consulted upon is a proposal to relieve the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee of its function of planning and securing the provision of emergency ambulance services.

There is also a plan that will require health boards to work together to form a joint committee, to be known as the Emergency Ambulance Services Committee, for the purposes of planning and securing the provision of such services on a joint basis.

The committee would comprise health board chief executives and a chief ambulance services commissioner, to be employed by the health board - Cwm Taf - that will 'host' it.

The aim of providing a robust ambulance service for the whole of Wales is a key thread running through the consultation document, which can be found, along with a response form, at www.wales.gov.uk