Post-war reorganisation led to the National Health Service Act of 1948. As part of this, for the first time, there was a requirement for ambulances to be available for all those who needed them.

By now, a more recognisable service was beginning to take shape. In the 1950s the London County Council’s ambulance service moved to Headquarters at Waterloo Road, but it was already clear this wouldn’t be large enough. By the early 1960s it was agreed a new headquarters would be built further up Waterloo Road. ‘Londam’, the Service’s newsletter, described it as ‘the promised land’.

A London-wide service was created in 1965 when one ambulance service was formed in London from parts of nine existing services. It comprised nearly 1,000 vehicles and 2,500 staff.

In 1974, when the National Health Service was reorganised, the London Ambulance Service was transferred from the control of local government to the South West Thames Regional Health Authority.

In 1989 staff took part in a nationwide strike for better pay and working conditions. Every station was involved with many giving out the phone number of the stations so that the public could call the crews directly in case of emergency. After six months of not being paid and living on donations from the public, a pay deal was reached and the crews went back to work.

In 1992 the failure of a new computer system led to worldwide public and media interest. The crash of the computer-aided dispatch system led to long delays in dispatching ambulances.

Service managers continued to report to South West Thames until 1 April 1996, when the organisation became an NHS trust. London Ambulance Service as we know it today officially came into being