Campaigners continue pressure over ambulance service concerns
Campaigners calling for improved ambulance response times in the county have been been taking their efforts to the streets.
The Ludlow and South Shropshire Need Ambulances group, led by Councillor Darren Childs, were set up in Ludlow's Square on Saturday to canvas support for their campaign.
It came on the same day as West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) was also present at the square, with the organisation's chief executive Anthony Marsh – along with Ludlow's Conservative MP Philip Dunne.
Councillor Childs, 35 started his campaign after his baby girl, who was suffering a seizure after having a fever that would not come down, was left waiting more than half an hour for paramedics.
He has since been elected to the town council, and his petition – calling for an ambulance hub in Ludlow and the return of local rapid response vehicles which can attend incidents until an ambulance arrives – has attracted 10,000 signatures.
Speaking following the event Councillor Childs said: "It was great to see a drive to recruit more Community First Responder volunteers. The numbers have gone down and down and down over the last decade – from over 1100 ten years ago to around 300 last year. If you have a cardiac arrest or you stop breathing, then absolutely fantastic to have a local volunteer who can reach you quickly."
But Councillor Childs said that community first responders could not be considered a substitute for trained paramedics or ambulances.
He said: "An ambulance that’s coming to Ludlow from Shrewsbury or Hereford is going to take 40 minutes or more. In a medical emergency that’s just too long. Lives are being put at risk here. We must get a local ambulance service back.”
The campaign has come after controversy over the closure of a number of the county's community ambulance stations last year – with all county ambulances now based at Shrewsbury or Telford.
However, WMAS, has rejected the calls for more local ambulance stations, saying they would not improve the service.
WMAS said that due to the way the ambulance service operates vehicles and crews are not based at stations waiting for calls – and effectively only use the buildings to start and finish their shift.
The service has also said it accepts response times for Shropshire are not good enough, but that the county is currently a 'net importer' of ambulances.
When Shropshire Council called for the creation of a Shropshire only ambulance service WMAS said that it was best placed to provide the service and investment is the only answer.
Councillor Childs added: “We all know there’s a general crisis in the NHS just now – not enough beds, not enough staff, problems discharging patients from hospital because social care is struggling, a fair number of Covid patients still.
"This is where we need all of our MPs in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin working with health leaders to replace the current cutbacks with strategic funding that can help improve things.
"But you know what? Out here in Ludlow and South Shropshire, we’re not going to sit back and die quietly while we wait for all this to get sorted out. A life in Ludlow has the exact same value as a life in Shrewsbury or for that matter, a life in Manchester or London. We can’t have our lives written off because someone decided to save money by taking our ambulances away."
