Karen has been made aware that at the full meeting of Staffordshire Moorlands District Council (SMDC) last night, a debate about the ambulance service took place, during which it was stated that the West Midlands Ambulance Service is to reduce cover across Staffordshire Moorlands at the weekend to allow more service in Stoke-on-Trent where activity is higher.
She commented:
“I was personally opposed to the 2007 merger with the Staffordshire Ambulance Service and actively campaigned against it because I was concerned that it would be bad for the Moorlands. Since being elected in 2010, I have done everything I can to make sure that Staffordshire Moorlands has adequate ambulance cover.
“I know that Ministers are providing an extra £28 million for ambulances across the country, which is good news, but I don’t want to see a situation where emergency calls from the Moorlands are not responded to quickly enough.”
Councillors present at the meeting also said they had received calls from residents about poor response times as most ambulances have to come from the Potteries to the Moorlands when an emergency call comes in. The removal of the NSL service was mentioned as a possible factor affecting provision across Staffordshire Moorlands too.
Karen added:
“I meet regularly with the West Midlands Ambulance Service, but I have been in touch again to ask to speak to the Chief Executive, Anthony Marsh, to find out what is going on and how we can improve things.”
Image courtesy of Yorkshire Ambulance Service