Ambulance shake-up fears are dismissed

Health bosses have dismissed fears that plans to shake-up ambulance services in Shropshire could cause serious risks to patients.

Councillors in Wem raised concerns ahead of plans by West Midlands Ambulance Service to scale back services at Whitchurch ambulance station.

But at this week's Wem Town Council meeting health bosses said the plans had been tried and tested successfully in Staffordshire for nearly 15 years.

Under the 'Make Ready' plans, Whitchurch ambulance station will become a joint police and ambulance station.

Councillors fear it will offer a more limited ambulance service once the changes take effect.

Two main ambulance hubs will be created in Shrewsbury and Telford, where ambulances will be cleaned, repaired and restocked ready for deployment to stations across the county from where they will respond to calls.

Prior to the meeting Councillor Edward Towers, mayor of Wem and Councillor John Murray had raised fears that patient care would be put at risk by the changes.

Speaking at the meeting, Councillor Towers said: "I recognise this is not seen as all bad.

"What we don't want is cost-cutting which diminishes patient care.

"What we want is the service to be modernised but to benefit the community," he added.

Councillor Peggy Carson said: "We are a growing town but seem to be losing out on every facility."

Dean Jenkins, from the ambulance service based in Staffordshire, said they had plans to actually increase ambulance cover in the area, maximise the time vehicles were out on the roads and have paramedics trained to 'advanced levels'.

He said: "This has been tried and tested in Staffordshire for more than 10 years, probably closer to 15 years. It's successful.

"Ambulance stations don't save lives. It's the ambulances and the paramedics."

Tom Edwards, a local resident, called on representatives from the ambulance service to attend a town council meeting six months after the plans had been put into place to see just how successful the scheme was working.