Ambulance Service not getting the vehicles they want

News about budget difficulties preventing the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) replacing older vehicles mean it may be right to keep a continuing eye on the ambulance service. Regular readers will recall the public meeting in Audlem on 7 June to discuss the local ambulance response times. The meeting was arranged by MP Stephen O'Brien and attended by a team from the North West Ambulance Service led by Deputy Chief Executive Bob Williams. The meeting was called because of concern after a number of very lengthy responses to emergency calls.

Local people were looking for an improvement in the service and Stephen O'Brien asked the question "Where's the improvement to come from?" Bob Williams said the ambition was to reduce the average 16 minute emergency call out to the Audlem area to 12 minutes. There was general acceptance that in a rural area like this, the 8 minute national target was near impossible with the nearest facilities being in Nantwich or Crewe.

The Sentinel will today reveal that the NWAS wants to replace 128 of its ambulance fleet with newer vehicles but budgets difficulties will mean only 35, or just over a quarter, will be ordered. Bob Williams was quite open about 'resources' at the Audlem meeting. It seems that those resources to improve the service are extremely limited!

This week a report was published saying that the further seriously ill patients have to travel by ambulance to reach emergency care, the more likely they are to die – according to research in the Emergency Medicine Journal. People with respiratory problems seem to be at greatest risk, the study indicates. While hardly a surprise, it does confirm the real concerns of long journeys, and it is reasonable to assume, lengthy waits, to get people to hospital.

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