Ambulance chief hails moves to put more paramedics on call-outs

West Midlands Ambulance Service which covers Shropshire said as the number on its vehicles has increased, the percentage of patients being taken to A&E departments has fallen.

Five years ago 81.8 per cent of ambulances had a paramedic on board. By 2016 that figure had risen to an average of 86.8 per cent and in November it was 90.1 per cent.

At the same time the percentage of emergency patients being taken to hospital had dropped from 61.3 per cent in 2012 to an average of 59.6 per cent in 2016, though in December it was down to just 58.7 per cent with some days below 50 per cent.

The service said the changes were achieved despite huge increases in demand over the period.

In the last five-year period, the total number of incidents attended by crews rose from 767,050 to 933,400 or by 21.7 per cent.

WMAS chief executive, Anthony Marsh, said: "We remain on course to become the first trust in the country to have a paramedic on every vehicle, every shift. We already achieve this in the more rural counties we serve and are getting steadily closer to that goal in all areas.

"What is absolutely clear is that doing so will allow us to further reduce our conveyance rate to less than 50 per cent which can only be good for patients, but also other health providers.

"I am immensely proud of my staff for all they are doing to use their skills to provide the very highest standards of care. They are treating many more patients themselves, but where they need support, they are making excellent use of the range of alternative pathways that are available to them.

"In many other parts of the region we work with local authorities who provide hugely successful 'falls teams' who can provide, mainly elderly patients, with the support they need to be able to stay at home."

Over the three years 2015/16 to 2017/18 the trust will have recruited more than 900 staff. At least two new state-of-the-art ambulances with security cameras will be based at the trust hubs in Donnington, Telford, and at Shrewsbury.