Shropshire ambulance campaigners smash 10,000-name petition target
Ambulance campaigners in Shropshire are vowing not to rest on their laurels even after smashing a target to get 10,000 names on a high-profile petition.
The campaign is calling for an ambulance hub in Ludlow and the return of local rapid response vehicles which can attend incidents until an ambulance arrives.
Councillor Darren Childs, from Ludlow, said he is trying to arrange to hand the petition over to Ludlow MP Philip Dunne at a community event in Highley next month.
"I will be asking him to take it to West Midlands Ambulance Service and take action on the requests," he said.
Mr Dunn has agreed to accept the petition and then present it to WMAS and has called for improved response times across South Shropshire.
But he has said that he is yet to be persuaded that establishing physical hubs in market towns in Shropshire will improve ambulance responses.
"I have seen for myself how all available ambulances respond to calls throughout their shift, rather than waiting for a local incident to arise.
"But I agreed to look at other models of service, such as across the border in Wales to see if there is a pattern of provision which could improve response times in Shropshire."
Councillor Childs said he would continue to press for Mr Dunne to change his mind.
And this week the campaign has been given even more clout by Ludlow Town Council resolving to support the campaign to improve ambulance emergency response times in Ludlow and South Shropshire. And they council adds that "this should be achieved by the most appropriate means."
Councillor Childs was recently elected to the council in a by-election.
The council has called for a joined up approach across all sectors of the NHS in Shropshire to solve the issue of "exceptionally poor ambulance response times".
It follows a West Midlands Ambulance Service decision to close hub stations in Oswestry, Craven Arms, Bridgnorth and Market Drayton, in October 2021. WMAS said it has invested in more ambulances to be used in the county.
An issue of ambulances being tied up waiting for patients to be admitted to the county's two acute hospitals has further complicated the issue.
Councillor Childs said: "We would like to find out what they are doing to fix the issue of ambulances waiting at hospitals, but it won't take away from the fact that it still takes 40 minutes for them to get to Ludlow."
The campaign hopes for another booster on Saturday when members will be out collecting names at Ludlow Market.
Then next week on Wednesday, April 27, there is set to be a meeting of campaigners and councillors with representatives of WMAS.
"We want to know what the NHS is planning to do to solve the problem of ambulances queueing at hospitals," he said.
