Hostile reception awaits 999 chiefs

Sep 25 2007 by Ben Guy, The Journal

AMBULANCE chiefs could face a hostile reception at a public meeting to discuss the service’s new community paramedic system.

People living in Haltwhistle and the surrounding area have been invited to a public meeting where senior representatives from the North East Ambulance Service, NHS Trust and Northumberland Care Trust will discuss the service.

Chris Reed, chief executive of the care trust, said the service appeared to be resulting in benefits for local people, but the scheme has been fiercely criticised by a review group set up to monitor it.

Kevin Little, a Haltwhistle resident and member of the Haltwhistle Community Paramedic Transitional Review Group said: “What we won’t accept is people saying the service is getting better when it isn’t. To say it is absolute twaddle. The ambulance service wants to spin it to say that everything is hunky dory – well it isn’t. It is not working. The most serious issue is response times to 999 calls which just aren’t good enough.

“Rural people are entitled to an equality of service but at the moment we are not getting it. Until the ambulance service comes clean and says they are struggling for resources us poor blighters will have to pay the price.”

Community paramedics were introduced in some rural areas of Northumberland last year to replace stand-by ambulance stations.

The system is designed to make paramedics available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to respond to 999 calls.

A two-crew ambulance is called to take a patient to hospital if necessary, which means the community paramedics remain in the area to respond to other patients’ needs.

Mr Reed said: “We made a £250,000 investment in this system in Northumberland last year and were aware at the time that some local people felt anxious about the new arrangements.

“While we can’t be complacent, the community paramedic service appears to be resulting in benefits for local people, particularly in those areas where it has already been possible to develop broader services, for example, for people with long-term conditions.

“I hope we can now reassure local people about how the service is working and we look forward to hearing their views and answering any questions they may have.”

Simon Featherstone, chief executive of North East Ambulance Service, added: “The stand-by stations served rural communities very well for many years but changes were needed.

“In the past when a patient was being taken to hospital by a stand-by crew, another ambulance from elsewhere in the region had to move in to cover the stand-by area.

“Community paramedics are now available around the clock to help not just emergency patients but in some parts of Northumberland are working with other healthcare teams treating people with long-term conditions and illnesses who can’t always travel to visit their GP or local hospital. Discussions are underway in Haltwhistle for the community paramedic service to develop in this way as well.

“Their first priority is always to answer 999 calls but the new system means ambulance resources are being used far more effectively for more patients than ever before.”

The meeting will take place at the town’s Methodist Church hall on Tuesday, October 2, at 7pm.