Unions fear for 999 ambulance services
Date posted: 28-07-2012
UNISON has condemned proposals to reduce the 999 service in Corringham and the rest of Essex. Management have recently carried out a number of staff road shows and given details of their plans.
Management are carrying out a review of staff rotas in East of England Ambulance service stations. The Trust proposes to lessen the amount of double staffed ambulances (DSAs) and more reliance on rapid response vehicles (RRVs) within the county.
Examples of this are Stansted losing its DSA as well as Ongar, Corringham, Frinton, and Weeley. There are also proposed reductions during certain times of the day; at Harlow, Loughton, Basildon, Billericay, Wickford, Southend, Clacton, Colchester, Maldon and Chelmsford.
This will, if implemented, have a very real effect on the public of Essex. The service users may have protracted waiting times for an ambulance to convey patients to hospital, thus, potentially worsening the condition of patients.
UNISON Branch Secretary, Gary Applin says “we are really concerned that there will be detrimental effect on patient care caused by these cuts. Patients in need of emergency care are going to have to wait longer to be transported to hospital as a result of these changes.’’
He continued “the Trust are currently only just hitting their performance targets in this area, a reduction in services will most certainly have a negative impact on this performance target”.
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Presumably, an increased number of rapid response vehicles is likely to result in a reduced wait for medical professionals to attend an emergency, ensuring quicker care for those in urgent need.