Extra ambulance cover coming

It appears that pressure from local MPs Stephen O'Brien and Edward Timpson, working with representatives from Audlem and Nantwich, has secured extra ambulance cover for the area.

While a formal announcement is expected soon, Audlem Online readers who have followed the ambulance issue over recent years will be pleased to hear that an extra high dependency ambulance will be stationed in Nantwich town.

This will take effect from 1st March and will provide extra cover for the town itself, Audlem and other rural areas.

The announcement was made by the NWAS's new chief executive Darren Hurrell at a meeting on Friday 30th January chaired by Stephen O'Brien. The additional vehicle will be operational seven days a week for sixteen hours a day.

Previously, ambulance cover in Audlem has been from Leighton Hospital although, in reality, emergency vehicles have travelled from much further causing the lengthy response times that have caused so much anguish to patients and their families.

Darren Hurrell said, in reply to an Audlem question, that while he could not give a cast iron guarantee that an emergency call would be met in 95% 0f cases within 19 minutes (the official target for rural areas), that target was not unreasonable and progress towards it would be monitored at regular meetings with local representatives.

First RespondersThere was progress too at the meeting on training for local First Responders.

Darren Hurrell acknowledged the importance of 'comfort and care' and the training issues around this will be addressed. Local representatives will continue to press for training in line with the Cheshire standards pre-regionalisation and the creation of North West Ambulance Service.

There was good news about the issue of the 'blue light' for Nantwich First Responder, Gavin Palin, who needs the flashing light within Nantwich and, in particular, when travelling out to rural emergencies.

More on the restoration of this service, which has been covered extensively in the local media over the past year and which led to a large protest march through Nantwich, when the official announcement arrives.

Thanks were expressed at the meeting to Stephen O'Brien and Edward Timpson who have met with both local representatives and NWAS on numerous occasions to try and resolve this long-running problem.

Last week's local tragedyThe 110 minute wait by a local family for an emergency ambulance (see Audlem Online 27th January) was also discussed at the meeting. The patient tragically died the following day in hospital.

An official investigation has been launched by NWAS and local councillor Mike Hill will be helping the family through that investigation.

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