Favouring ambulance hub for town

A council has backed proposals by East Midlands Ambulance Service to base a response hub in Newark.

Newark and Sherwood district councillors on Tuesday supported a motion urging EMAS to push ahead with plans for four main ambulance bases in Nottinghamshire.

Original proposals suggested hubs only for Nottingham and Mansfield.

EMAS has since changed its plans to include extra hubs, one at Newark, and it is widely anticipated the new plans will be adopted.

The council motion, proposed by the deputy leader, Mr Tony Roberts, said: “The council would urge EMAS to move forward with this proposal in order to ensure a better, safer and more efficient emergency service for the people of Nottinghamshire.”

The council also supported an amendment to the motion expressing concern that EMAS was not prepared to give greater weight to improving its response times in rural areas.

The amendment, put forward by Mrs Abbie Truswell, said: “If the eight-minute and 19-minute targets have value, they must have value for every part of the patch.

“In our view the board should be considering what minimum levels of performance are acceptable in each postcode area.

“They should also be developing a strategy for significantly improving the immediate response rates for emergencies through the development of volunteer support especially in areas more distant from the hospital.”

Mr David Lloyd said it was important to support the ambulance service.

Mrs Linda Tift said she had serious concerns that residents in rural areas were facing long waits for paramedics.

The Advertiser previously reported how eight and 19-minute response time targets in the NG21 to NG25 postcodes are often missed.