Fears over ambulance times after 999 shake-up
ambulance
EPWORTH Town Council will ask for more details about plans to close dozens of ambulance stations across the region following concerns that lives could be put at risk.
East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) plans to close most of the 66 stations across the area, including ones at Scunthorpe and Gainsborough, to replace them with 13 hub bases. The nearest hub station to Epworth and Crowle would be around 22 miles away at Elsham, North Lincolnshire.
The scheme has caused concern for town councillor Margaret Lindley, 70, who said: “I have had the ambulance out from Scunthorpe on two or three occasions when I had chest pains and they got here very quickly.
“If they are talking about closing ambulance stations then obviously I am very concerned about what effect this will have on response times. If they can’t get here in time then lives may be put at risk.”
EMAS has a target to reach 75 per cent of all life threatening calls within eight minutes. This target will remain the same, but the service hopes the new set up will help them to reach calls sooner.
Don Stewart MBE, 71, Chair of Epworth Town Council, vowed to
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Weather for Thorne
Sunday 19 May 2013
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Temperature: 9 C to 18 C
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