Turning around the under performing Great Western Ambulance Service is one of the toughest jobs in England but David Whiting insists he can do it.

Mr Whiting, 44, began work at GWAS on April 1 and pledged to improve the response times of ambulances.

Since GWAS was formed three years ago following the merger of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Avon ambulance services it has consistently struggled to achieve the national targets for response times.

In 2007/8 GWAS was judged the worst performing ambulance service in England by the Healthcare Commission for its response to Category A (life threatening) calls.

For 2008/9 GWAS attended Category A calls within eight minutes 68.4 per cent on the time against a national target of 75 per cent. In Wiltshire GWAS achieved a rate of 65.9 per cent.

Mr Whiting has moved from East Midlands Ambulance Service where he was director of operations for the past seven years and where the service had similar problems in achieving response times but succeeded.

He said: “Our number one priority at GWAS is to achieve the response times and to sustain it. Not every ambulance trust is achieving the response times, it’s not just GWAS.

“In real terms the gap at GWAS towards achieving the targets is not a big gap and I’m optimistic that a lot of things we need to have in place are in place and we will achieve the targets consistently.”

In the six months before Mr Whiting’s arrival troubleshooter Anthony Marsh, also chief executive of the West Midlands Ambulance Service, led GWAS following the departure of chief executive Tim Lynch.

In his short time at GWAS Mr Marsh secured additional funding of £6.75 million from the South West Strategic Health Authority and Primary Care Trusts in the region, swept away two layers of management and reduced the number of managers by about 20 and improved morale by visiting staff across the patch.

The extra money been used to recruit 70 new paramedics and technicians and 40 control room staff but most are in training so the benefit will not be seen until later this year. The money will also buy between 20 and 30 extra ambulances.

Speaking before he left Mr Marsh said: “The progress we have made in the last six months has been remarkable. There is a real sense the organisation has ‘turned the corner.’”

Mr Whiting joined the ambulance service in his native Sheffield more than 20 years ago and has maintained his paramedic skills by being a first responder in the village where he lived in Derbyshire until his new appointment.