PARAMEDICS in Okehampton have hit out at proposed reforms which they say will leave a gap in ambulance cover in the town through the night. Okehampton Ambulance crews currently provide a 24-hour service in the town, but changes due to come into force from April will see no front-line ambulance cover in the town between the hours of 2am and 6am. Ambulance crews in Okehampton currently work in 12-hour shifts, from 7am to 7pm and 7pm to 7am. Under the new proposals from the Westcountry Ambulance Trust, crews would work ten-hour shifts, from 6am to 4pm and 4pm to 2am. There would then be no town-based ambulance cover in Okehampton for four hours through the night. One concerned staff member said he feared the changes would lead to a reduction in the level of service to patients. He said: ?The crew is stretched to the limit at present. We are often called down to Launceston or to Exeter. I feel they are playing a dangerous game by reducing cover further.? He said staff were concerned that the trust was cutting back the hours of ambulance cover and replacing the service with single-crewed rapid response vehicles. They fear patient care will suffer because when a patient needed to be taken to hospital, the RRV would have to wait for a back-up ambulance from one of the larger areas such as Plymouth or Exeter. He said other small stations across the Westcountry would also be affected by the changes. Ian Hopkins, branch secretary for UNISON, which represents ambulance staff, said there was great concern about the changes: ?We held a meeting in Exeter last week to discuss the proposals and there was real anger from staff about the effect the changes would have on patients. ?Huge swathes of rural areas of Devon are going to be affected, and members are very concerned about the impact on patient care. ?Management say these moves will reduce response times. Well that is fine; we can get someone to you in eight minutes, but the response car has not got the same sort of equipment as an ambulance, nor is it able to transport people to hospital, so the patient actually has a longer wait for the treatment they really need.? Mr Hopkins said the union had balloted its members and was seeking their views on the changes. He stressed negotiations and consultation with the trust were an ongoing process. He said he served on the national committee, and to his knowledge, the Westcountry Ambulance Service was the only trust in the country taking these steps, which he decsribed as a ?backward measure?. Crews have also expressed concern about the cover likely to be put in place while they are stood down and therefore unavailable to respond during meal breaks. Westcountry Ambulance Trust says the package of proposals would provide more ambulance resources across the three counties of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset to respond to emergency 999 calls as part of ongoing modernisation. A spokeswoman said: ?The ambulance trust, like most of the NHS, is modernising, and new, more appropriate ways of responding to patient needs, are being implemented within the service and financial constraints which exist. ?The trust is confident that patients in need of an ambulance for life-threatening situations will continue to receive a quality emergency service from professional and dedicated staff.? She said the trust would be continuing to engage the healthcare community, patient and public representatives and other stakeholders over the coming weeks.
