abstract: New direction: a half of ambulance journeys to hospital could be unnecessary because many patients can be treated better elsewhere, according to an NHS Confederation report entitled NHS Ambulance Services: More than just patient transport. The report cites the role of emergency care practitioners and 'smarter' patient assessment as two of the reasons why patients are treated increasingly at incident scenes or in the community. For copies of the report, published this month, access www.nhsconfed.org/docs/amb_report.pdf.