MP joins in ambulance funding row (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

MP joins in ambulance funding row

SALISBURY MP Robert Key has called for government action to help the troubled ambulance service in south Wiltshire.

He stepped into the row this week, claiming the cash-starved service was relying too heavily on volunteers, and put forward his own idea for solving the problem.

The Tory MP has suggested that more funds could be made available for front-line cover if local health services were to pool administrative staff.

He came up with the idea after meeting with Tim Skelton, chief executive of Wiltshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust in the wake of claims that lives are being put at risk by inadequate ambulance cover in rural areas.

A story in the Journal six weeks ago revealed how, in its struggle to meet government response times, the trust was putting the bulk of its resources into the county's three most populated areas - Swindon, Salisbury and Trowbridge/Chippenham - at the expense of places such as Amesbury, Tidworth, Lud-gershall, Mere and Tisbury.

Now Mr Key has written to health minister Rosie Winterton asking her to explain what is going on, and what her attitude would be to the ambulance service in the south of the county amalgamating with either the primary health care trust or hospital trust, to share overheads.

Mr Key told the Journal: "Although Wiltshire's is the smallest ambulance trust in the country, it has comparatively high overheads, because of the cost of having its own finance, human resources and other administrative departments.

"If we can get a better, more effective and more efficient service by the ambulance and the two other local health service trusts sharing office workers, instead of having three sets of administration staffs, it could be a way forward."

Mr Key said the ambulance trust employed about 300 people and had a £13m turnover.

"But it has only 35 ambulances across the county, four motorcycles, 15 passenger transport vehicles and 15 solo responders," he said.

"There are just 21 day crews and 11 night crews - although they do, of course, have the air ambulance for emergencies."

Mr Key said the trust was having to rely more and more on St John Ambulance volunteers and military and ministry of defence medical personnel from local camps and establishments such as Boscombe Down.

"It is just not acceptable for an NHS ambulance trust to be relying to this extent on the goodwill of volunteers, the military and others," he said.

Mr Key said there would be changes to the ambulance service in the coming years.

As part of such change, he foresaw a reduction in the number of ambulance stations in Wiltshire and an increase in the number of first responders.

He pledged to fight to help improve the service locally, particularly in rural areas, to ensure villagers got a good standard of cover.