OVERSTRETCHED ambulance chiefs have been given an extra £10 million to recruit more staff and provide more training to deal with increasing 999 calls.
Health chiefs yesterday unveiled plans to pay the West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust an extra £10 million on top of their £142 million annual budget following the Lightfoot independent report.
The region’s 17 primary care trusts – including NHS Worcestershire – had already committed an additional £20 million for the service over the last two years but more was needed to meet rising demand, commissioners said.
The trust has consistently failed to attend the most serious, life-threatening 999 calls in Worcestershire within Government guidelines.
Trust bosses have blamed rising demand rather than the closure of the Emergency Operations Centre in Bransford, near Worcester, which used to handle local 999 calls. They blamed this year's rise partly on the heatwave in July and on swine flu but demand has been increasing by four to six per cent per year over the last decade.
Also, many people call 999 when they should be calling GPs or even going to the chemist. West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS), the PCTs and the NHS West Midlands specialised commissioning team have been working together after it emerged the increasing number of calls for emergency or urgent treatment was stretching the service to the limit.
In 2008/09 WMAS received more than 800,000 for emergency and urgent assistance, 4.3 per cent more than the previous year and demand is continuing to rise. Dr Jane Povey, who chairs the regional PCTs’ clinical quality group, which funds the ambulance service, said the original £20 million was used to train 170 extra paramedics and provide additional vehicles and support staff.
Anthony Marsh, chief executive of West Midlands Ambulance Service, welcomed the review. He said: “We have seen the demand for emergency ambulances increase year-on-year with the number of 999 calls at the highest level ever in the West Midlands and continuing to rise sharply.
“This has put pressure on the service and, while our staff have responded magnificently, we have reached the stage where we need more resources.
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