South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) delivers high‑quality clinical research focused on improving patient care across the pre‑hospital and community setting. Covering a diverse geography that includes Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Hampshire, SCAS serves urban, rural, and coastal population, ensuring that research reflects the full range of communities within its footprint.

Research delivery is supported by our dedicated Research Team, who provide governance, coordination, and operational oversight to ensure all studies are conducted safely, ethically, and in line with national regulatory standards. This structured approach enables research to be embedded into ambulance practice without compromising patient safety or frontline service resilience.

SCAS has a strong track record of contributing to large‑scale national and international studies that have shaped pre‑hospital and community care. These include PARAMEDIC2, PARAMEDIC3, CRASH‑4, the Harmonie RSV vaccine trial, and the ELSA type 1 diabetes risk screening study along with many others. Through sustained participation in these programmes, SCAS has helped to generate practice‑changing evidence and improve outcomes across diverse patient groups.

A core element of SCAS’s approach is CEDAR (Community Engagement increasing Diversity and Accessibility in Research), which tackles inequalities in research participation by bringing studies to people rather than expecting people to travel to traditional sites. By combining proactive community engagement with delivery in local community spaces, CEDAR reduces practical barriers, such as transport, time, and accessibility, to make research easier to join, more inclusive, and more representative of the communities we serve.

To support this mobile, community‑focused approach, SCAS has invested in dedicated Research Rapid Response Vehicles (R‑RRVs). Staffed by trained research clinicians, these vehicles enable flexible, timely research delivery in both pre‑hospital and community environments while minimising any impact on emergency operations.

Through inclusive engagement, mobile research infrastructure, and a strong record of national collaboration, SCAS continues to support high‑quality research that improves patient care and reflects the diverse populations it serves.

For more information about research at SCAS and the CEDAR project, please visit:
👉 https://www.scas.nhs.uk/about-scas/research/

We welcome collaboration with academic, clinical and industry partners committed to improving pre‑hospital and community healthcare.