New plan on 999 cover
By Jo Deeks on Thursday, 2nd March 2000.
A PLAN to restore 24-hour ambulance cover to Haverhill by May this year is being put before ambulance chiefs this week.
Frank Harradence, county controller for Suffolk for the East Anglian Ambulance Trust, is putting forward a strong proposal to the director of finance and the Chief Executive for a return to 24-hour cover, based in Haverhill, seven days a week.
But Mr Harradence stresses his plan must win approval from the trust's board to go ahead. It would involve a new system of team working and new rotas at Haverhill, which would have to be discussed with the 10 staff there.
He is also recommending that the six-month experiment with paramedic Bob Tuck providing 24-hour cover from his home in Haverhill should continue after March 31, when it is due to end. Since Mr Tuck took on the role he has made a great improvement to response times.
"It has been extremely successful in the two pilot schemes and I want to try another one at Framlingham. Setting up the new teams gives me the opportunity of looking at the rotas and Haverhill would lend itself well to providing 24-hour cover.
"It is by no means certain that this will happen, but it is what I am proposing if the funding is available for it," Mr Harradence said.
A decision should be made by mid-March and if the change is approved the new rotas should be in operation by May.
Mr Harradence said there had been a massive turnaround in the service over the past year. Response times for calls answered within 19 minutes had risen from around 85 per cent to currently running at over 94 per cent on a weekly basis.
There was a storm of protest and a huge petition in Haverhill two years ago when the town's night cover was removed. An extra 40 hours of cover were promised, but have not been provided.
Numerous cases of people waiting for ambulances were reported, including diabetic Neil Basire of Shetland Road, Haverhill. This week Neil's father Les contacted the Weekly News to ask what had happened to the extra cover, after again waiting half an hour for an ambulance to arrive.
"I could not believe, when the ambulance arrived, it was from Huntingdon. You cannot blame them, it is not their fault, it is the system. They where on their way to Sawston, then got diverted to us, so I don't know what happened to the person in Sawston. It seems ridiculous that we should be waiting for an ambulance to come from Huntingdon," Mr Basire said.
Mark Prentice, a spokesman for the ambulance service, said the paramedic had been with Mr Basire in nine minutes, and the ambulance came 20 minutes after it was called, although Mr Basire did not need to go to hospital. The ambulance was covering for Cambridge, which was also covering for Haverhill, and had been on stand-by at Bar Hill.
Frank Harradence, county controller for Suffolk for the East Anglian Ambulance Trust, is putting forward a strong proposal to the director of finance and the Chief Executive for a return to 24-hour cover, based in Haverhill, seven days a week.
But Mr Harradence stresses his plan must win approval from the trust's board to go ahead. It would involve a new system of team working and new rotas at Haverhill, which would have to be discussed with the 10 staff there.
He is also recommending that the six-month experiment with paramedic Bob Tuck providing 24-hour cover from his home in Haverhill should continue after March 31, when it is due to end. Since Mr Tuck took on the role he has made a great improvement to response times.
"It has been extremely successful in the two pilot schemes and I want to try another one at Framlingham. Setting up the new teams gives me the opportunity of looking at the rotas and Haverhill would lend itself well to providing 24-hour cover.
"It is by no means certain that this will happen, but it is what I am proposing if the funding is available for it," Mr Harradence said.
A decision should be made by mid-March and if the change is approved the new rotas should be in operation by May.
Mr Harradence said there had been a massive turnaround in the service over the past year. Response times for calls answered within 19 minutes had risen from around 85 per cent to currently running at over 94 per cent on a weekly basis.
There was a storm of protest and a huge petition in Haverhill two years ago when the town's night cover was removed. An extra 40 hours of cover were promised, but have not been provided.
Numerous cases of people waiting for ambulances were reported, including diabetic Neil Basire of Shetland Road, Haverhill. This week Neil's father Les contacted the Weekly News to ask what had happened to the extra cover, after again waiting half an hour for an ambulance to arrive.
"I could not believe, when the ambulance arrived, it was from Huntingdon. You cannot blame them, it is not their fault, it is the system. They where on their way to Sawston, then got diverted to us, so I don't know what happened to the person in Sawston. It seems ridiculous that we should be waiting for an ambulance to come from Huntingdon," Mr Basire said.
Mark Prentice, a spokesman for the ambulance service, said the paramedic had been with Mr Basire in nine minutes, and the ambulance came 20 minutes after it was called, although Mr Basire did not need to go to hospital. The ambulance was covering for Cambridge, which was also covering for Haverhill, and had been on stand-by at Bar Hill.
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