Ambulance cover to be cut says union

DAY time ambulance cover in Warrington will be reduced as a result of £14 million cuts planned by the North West Ambulance Service, according to the GMB union.
The services will be cut at a time when the ambulance service has a £34 million underspend sitting in its bank, the union says.
GMB, which represents many NHS staff, said it had been informed by North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) of cost improvement plans for 2014-15 in which they plan to save almost £14 million from this year’s budget.
Ray Carrick, the union’s regional officer, said: “The Trust has been set a target by the government of £10.5 million per year but, in the last two years, they have added over £2 million to this target. They have gone on to over-achieve each of these targets.
“They report that as of March 31 they were able to bank an additional £14.7 million to make their cash in the bank almost £34 million.
They further say they need to do this in case some of their income from the new Clinical Commissioning Groups is delayed
“They wish to save a further £14 million this year, the majority of which will come from front line services.”
Mr Carrick said the cutbacks would result in redundancies, reductions in night cover at Bury, Bolton, Carlisle and Wigan and removal of day vehicles from Warrington, Ellesmere Port, Formby, Blackpool and Burscough.
They also plan to carry out a reconfiguration of the Urgent Care vehicles that operate at the level in-between routine out-patient services and 999 emergency services.
“Patients and services will be affected. The Trust should be proud, and rightly so, to have achieved the nationally set targets but that does not show the overall picture from the patients perspective.
“Our confusion is this….. if services are cut because we have to balance the budget, why are NWAS cutting services to the patient with a £34 million underspend sitting in its bank?”