CANDIDATES with local knowledge of Worcestershire will not be given priority for ambulance control centre jobs - because it would be unfair on those from ethnic minorities.
The astonishing claim was made by Anthony Marsh, chief executive of the West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust.
The trust is proposing closing Worcesershire's control centre at Bransford and relocating staff to regional centres outside the county.
Mr Marsh was asked by Harriett Baldwin, Conservative Parliamentary candidate for West Worcestershire, if future vacancies would be filled with people who had good knowledge of Worcestershire and Herefordshire, but he said the recruitment of staff taking life and death 999 calls had to be fair to people from ethnic minorities.
The Worcester News has already received nearly 2,000 signatures in our "Keep it Local" campaign to stop the closure of the Bransford centre.
The trust also plans to close a centre in Shrewsbury to create two regional call centres at Brierley Hill and Stafford.
But the proposals have prompted fears vital, life-saving local knowledge will be lost if handlers do not live in the area they work.
In a letter to Mrs Baldwin, Mr Marsh writes: "Given the low percentage of BME (black minority ethnic) residents in the rural counties, insisting on local knowledge will discriminate against applicants from ethnic minorities.
"We do not have such a policy; therefore, local knowledge is not a prerequisite for employment."
He goes on to say that although local knowledge is useful there are no staff in any call centres who are aware of all locations, places, streets, houses and public places within the area they serve.
Mrs Baldwin, who first brought the issue to our attention, was shocked by the letter.
She said: "I am outraged that residents in Worcestershire may have their lives endangered by a policy that puts diversity targets ahead of local knowledge.
"No one could be a bigger supporter of than me of equal opportunities, but the most vital thing is to ensure that local people have a safe and effective ambulance service."
Liz Kabani, senior call taker at Bransford and UNISON representative for the centre, said: "Why would an assumption be made that any "black minority ethnic" applicants for posts in a local control room, would not have local knowledge?
Any applicants in this group might have lived for generations in the area and know it like the back of their hands. Conversely an applicant fitting any of the "white" categories might have moved from a completely different area of the UK or from abroad."
A spokesman for the West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust said: "The service has never recruited staff on the basis of local knowledge.
"We regularly recruit from all areas of the UK and further afield. Local knowledge is not a requirement of the job.
"None of the staff at Bransford or any of the other emergency operations centres were recruited for their local knowledge."
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