[4] Based in Bolton, the trust provides services to over 7 million people in Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire, Cumbria, and the North Western fringes of the High Peak district of Derbyshire (covering the towns of Glossop and Hadfield) in an area of 5,500 square miles (14,000 km2).

NWAS provides emergency ambulance response via the 999 system, as well as operating the NHS 111 advice service for North West England.

They also operate non-emergency patient transport services (PTS) for part of the region, and in 2013/2014 carried out 1.2 million such journeys.

[11] The rollout of electric vehicles in the NWAS fleet expanded with the delivery of seven Mercedes-Benz eVito mental health ambulances in 2022.

The CQC found the trust provided safe and effective services which were well-led and with a clear focus on quality but it was criticised for taking too many callers to hospital and for sending ambulances when other responses would have been more appropriate.