Lib Dem analysis shows Hampshire needs more ambulances

3.34.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 21st Sep 2009

Following Freedom of Information requests to every Ambulance Trust in England and Wales, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Winchester, Martin Tod, has found that the time it takes to reach people with life-threatening problems in Hampshire and the South Central region ambulance is being delayed by a lack of ambulances compared to the best performing areas.

The South Central Ambulance Service has only 5.3 ambulances per 100,000 people covering Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire compared to 7.1 ambulances per 100,000 people for South Western Ambulance Service - the trust with the fastest response times in England and Wales.

In Hampshire, the figures are lower still - only 4.9 ambulances per 100,000 people.

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Winchester, Martin Tod, commented:

"To match the best performing parts of the country and help fix response times in rural areas, we need more ambulances."

"It's not rocket science. If you look at the figures across the country, it's clear that more ambulances help you get faster response times. The South West have 7 ambulances for every 100,000 people. We have 5. We'd need 86 more ambulances across the region to have the same level of coverage."

"Rural areas like the Winchester district are hit the hardest. Although the South Central region is close to reaching three-quarters of emergencies in 8 minutes, in Winchester it's only half. And in some rural areas, only 1 in 10 calls are reached in time."

"The South Central Ambulance Service has made great progress in the last year, and the volunteer First Responders and Fire & Rescue Co-Responders also make a vital difference, but response times are still longer than anyone wants them to be, especially in areas like rural Hampshire and Buckinghamshire."

"After a major heart attack, people's chance of surviving drops by 10% with every minute that passes. Delays in responding are extremely serious."

"The problem is money. Our ambulance service doesn't get a budget that takes into account how expensive it is to provide ambulance services for rural villages and towns."

"I was shocked to uncover that the Government doesn't even look at this. When Mark Oaten asked a question about ambulance numbers in Parliament, the Labour minister wasn't even able to answer the question."

"We need a fairer funding system from Government so that we get the ambulances we need."

At the Annual General Meeting of South Central Ambulance Service, Martin Tod, asked the Chairman of the Authority, Neil Goulden, whether the relative lack of ambulances was a problem.

Mr Goulden replied that it was and that the current funding mechanism doesn't take proper account of rurality and the cost of supporting rural areas - particularly populated rural areas like Hampshire and Buckinghamshire compared to relatively unpopulated areas like Dartmoor. He went on to explain how funding for South Central was also lower due to the relative affluence of our population even though the costs of supporting rural areas are higher.He finished by saying:

"To achieve all our targets we need more ambulances, more crews and more money."