THE EDITOR GETS PERSONAL ABOUT THE AMBULANCE SERVICE

Just a couple of days after the editor published his own experiences he received the following copy of a distressing letter written by Ken Norman to John Nicholls (Chief Executive Oxfordshire Ambulance Service). Ken has agreed to his letter being published here in the hope it may get people thinking more about just what is happening.

Dear Mr Nicholls

This weekend my Father-in-law was visiting us in Chipping Norton from Boston in Lincolnshire. On arriving at the soon to be closed Chipping Norton Swimming Pool he had a stroke whilst in the car park. I managed to get him to the Chippy hospital (heaven forbid that somebody has the bright idea of closing that) and the staff there were fantastic. What followed, however, was quite alarming. Charlotte one of the nurses proceeded to call for an ambulance (I assumed one would be with us within minutes - after all our local ambulance station is yards away - I thought). After being put on hold for an agonising couple of minutes she was eventually told that a crew was on it's way from Berkshire. This was not at all reassuring to hear. As it turned out an Oxfordshire ambulance eventually arrived 25 minutes after our arrival at the hospital to run him into the Horton at Banbury (which I could probably have reached within the time it took the ambulance to arrive.) I didn't feel that I could do this, however, as John (in his confused state) was constantly trying to open the car door compromising the safety of both of us. Those twenty five minutes were distressing for John, his wife (now widow) and my family. As the minutes ticked away I was feeling more and more guilty for not having run him straight to the Horton. As the plans for the town emerge its clear that the population is set to grow and indeed to age. McCarthy & Stone are planning to build more retirement homes in the area. We need more, not fewer amenities. Our taxes and and poll taxes rise over the rate of inflation year-on-year and yet the services and indeed the value we receive from our service providers is eroded at a faster rate. Please ensure that our ambulance station is reinstated or that ambulance response times to our community are drastically improved to relieve the stresses associated with the wait.

Yours sincerely

Ken Norman

AMBULANCE PLAN IS ANNOUNCED
by JAN 2003

Paramedics will be able to reach most areas of Oxfordshire more quickly under a 1.66m scheme to close seven ambulance stations. Ambulance trust managers believe the plans will help them improve their service, ensuring that crews can get to most emergencies within eight minutes. Only four small areas of the county have been highlighted as areas where crews could take longer to arrive. They are a stretch of the Thames above Buckland, and areas between Southmoor and Wantage, around Culham railway station, and between Stonesfield and Finstock. Stations in Abingdon, Banbury, Bicester, Chipping Norton, Thame and Wantage will be sold and the money used to replace them with "resource centres", including staff training and study areas, and on-site child care. The new bases will be in Oxford, north Oxfordshire -- probably Banbury -- and Didcot. Crews will also be able to take breaks at up to 15 standby points called asaps. Ambulance trust chief executive John Nichols said most would be portable buildings. Using them instead of the current stations would mean more of Oxfordshire would be accessible within eight minutes. Mr Nichols said: "They work very well for this purpose, but if there was a small industrial unit where we would like to put an asap then we might use that. The areas covered have been tested and from these areas we can reach 999 emergencies within eight minutes." Health watchdogs and unions raised concerns when the plans were first revealed last summer. Unison and the Community Health Council feared station closures would leave paramedics with nowhere to rest, and patients in rural areas would be hard to reach during shift changes, as crews returned to the three bases. Unison convenor Phil Bolley said: "We're satisfied this will benefit patients as well as ourselves. There'll be an overlapping shift system to prevent all crews returning to base at the same time, and we have agreed compensation for staff who will have extra travelling time to and from work."

The final plans will be discussed by the new NHS watchdog, Oxfordshire County Council's Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee at County Hall at 10am on the 22 January. This meeting is public. It could refer the issue to the Government if it opposes the move.