Local ambulance service 'continuing to improve' says Weston MP John Penrose
August 20 2009
MP for Weston-super-Mare John Penrose was pleased to see how the Great Western Ambulance Service is improving when he recently joined an ambulance crew responding to emergency calls (Thursday 13th August).
This was the MP’s third visit in less than a year. The tragic death of a local resident due to poor response times to emergency call outs in 2008 had prompted a series of changes in the local ambulance service, including the replacement of the previous Chief Executive. During his latest visit Mr Penrose met GWAS’s new Chief Executive David Whiting and discussed the measures that were being implemented to improve the emergency response rate, which only last year had been the worst in the country.
In addition, the Weston MP had an opportunity to go out with an ambulance crew as they were responding to a 999 call. He was very impressed by the way paramedics dealt with an elderly gentleman, whisking him into an ambulance and away to Weston hospital in a rapid and professional way.
Mr Penrose said: "I get regular updates on the way our local ambulance response times are improving, but figures on a page can only tell you so much. I wanted to speak to the ambulance crews themselves, and to see for myself whether the changes are starting to come through.
"I'm delighted to see that things are starting to improve. Response times are coming down, particularly for the most important and life-threatening 'category A' calls, so local people can now expect to get help more quickly.
"Of course, further improvements are still needed, including further down the line when the ambulance arrives at the hospital. As I’ve been able to see for myself, shorter response times from the ambulance service won’t be enough to improve survival rates if the ambulances then have to queue before getting access to A&E. I shall keep a close eye on the situation in the months to come but, overall, the picture is one of steady improvement, so our efforts to give Weston the first-class ambulance service it deserves are clearly bearing fruit."
