UNISON has condemned plans to cut frontline ambulance services in the East of England as putting patients at risk.
Responding to East of England Ambulance Trust plans to reduce the number of staff and vehicles delivering emergency response services across the area, UNISON branch secretary Gary Applin stated: “The proposed scaling down of resources across all areas will put patients at risk.
“The Trust’s own figures show that in many areas, staffing levels will be below what is needed for many hours of the day.
“In rural areas, patients will wait for longer for any member of Trust staff to attend in an emergency and even then it is likely that will be a solo responder ancapable of transporting them straight to hospital.”
He added that for staff, the cuts would mean a worse worklife balance.
The trust says the cuts are due to central government cuts of around £50m over the next few years.
But Mr Applin called on management to think again and develop alternative proposals, while urging the government to reverse the cuts to ambulance trusts.
“The public are going to suffer because of these cuts,” he warned.
The trust’s proposed cuts will mean fewer ambulances in every county, including:
- Bedfordshire – a 25% reduction in Kempston;
- Cambridgeshire – a 50% reduction in Ely;
- Essex – Stanstead will lose one transportable ambulance;
- Hertfordshire – an 80% reduction in Watford;
- Norfolk – North Walsham will lose one transportable ambulance and Cromer will see a 50% reduction;
- Suffolk – a 50% reduction in Bury St Edmunds.