Last Updated on 20/10/2023 by Samantha Lewis
Ambucare recently became a British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA) member and specialises in servicing, repairing, and supplying new equipment to nursing and care homes.
BHTA recently caught up with Lee Thorneycroft, Director and Owner of Ambucare, to find out more about the company, its upcoming product launch that securely attaches pressure care mattress pumps to profiling beds, and why the BHTA logo delivers automatic trust to customers.
BHTA: Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Lee: “As a mechanical engineer, I have worked in the healthcare sector as a service engineer for 20 years. I did have a break for two years between times, as I worked for JCB Uttoxeter, but soon realised my future laid in healthcare as I knew I was actually making a difference to people’s lives.
“Having left JCB I joined Ambucare as a service engineer (my way back to doing the job I really loved). Two years in, I was offered the opportunity to buy Ambucare, which I took to the present day.”
BHTA: What is Ambucare, and what is the company’s ethos?
Lee: “Since taking over at Ambucare, we now have a healthy nursing/care home client base. Ambucare specialises in L.O.L.E.R testing of all lifting equipment in nursing/care homes across the UK.
“Ambucare not only services and repairs equipment but also supplies new equipment. We carry out bed and mattress audits also. We work on the theory that if a nursing home requires anything, Ambucare will supply or repair it.
“Our company motto is: Removing Barriers, Enhancing Lives.
“Our main ethos as a company is, and always will be, customer care. Our customers are our priority, and they will always come first because without our customers, we have no business.
“Transparency and honesty also play a big role within our company values; we always focus on this whilst dealing with our clients, as we always treat them with the compassion and respect that we would hope to be treated by others.”
BHTA: Is Ambucare launching any new products?
Lee: “Ambucare is just about to launch a new product called Securapump to securely attach pressure care mattress pumps to profiling beds in nursing/care homes and across the community, addressing issues such as infection control, health and safety issues, and expensive pump repair bills but more importantly bring huge benefits to the comfort of the end-user in the bed.”
BHTA: Are there any challenges your company is currently facing?
Lee: “As with many other companies I imagine, we are finding the current climate with price rises very challenging. We, as a company, are always having to work hard to avoid passing these price rises onto our customers, soaking up these price rises wherever possible.
“Also, since the UK left the European Union, we are finding that our suppliers are having difficulties with importing equipment/spare parts, resulting in our lead times to our customers being extended. This in itself soaks up our employees’ time, as they are having to communicate with our customers more than normal to update them about any delays.
“Fortunately, everyone is fully aware of the situation and they are very understanding, but it is time we could be spending elsewhere within the company. Very frustrating, but I feel there is nothing else we can do going forward until the economy slows down.”
BHTA: What are the benefits of being a BHTA member?
Lee: “We know that being a member of BHTA brings huge benefits to our company. Firstly, being able to add the BHTA logos to our social media and marketing products brings automatic trust that we are complying with what is required to being a member. For us, as a company, to have the knowledge that both ourselves and our clients have back up in the unfortunate event of any disputes arising is important.
“It is also satisfying to know that if in the future we do bring products to market ourselves that we have professional experts that will advise on overcoming problems and barriers that we would normally struggle to find.”
To find out more about how the BHTA can support your business and how to become a BHTA member, visit this page.