I’ve asked asked for an urgent meeting with the head of the ambulance services because of the cuts to ambulance cover in the Rhondda.
Ambulances are being cut in areas like the Rhondda to improve response rates in city areas. The Welsh Ambulance Service is more concerned with statistics and meeting targets than improving the level of service in the valleys.
For example, when Treherbert ambulance station closed in 1998 the community were promised that the service wouldn’t be reduced. If these cuts go ahead in Gelli that ambulance will be lost.
Here’s a copy of my letter to Mike Cassidy, Director of Ambulance Services :
Dear Mr. Cassidy
Rhondda ambulance service downgrading
I have been approached by several constituents expressing concerns about the loss of ambulance services in Rhondda.
I understand that the Rhondda will lose one ambulance completely and other services will be downgraded at the end of this month (August 2007). In addition, I also understand this will mean further cuts in the opening and staffing hours of the ambulance stations in Ferndale and Gelli.
This proposal is totally unacceptable and will put Rhondda lives at risk, and I would like an urgent meeting with you to clarify the position.
Jill Evans MEP
August 8, 2007 at 11:52 am |
Just seen in The Vale Advertiser that the Ambulance Trust are looking for members of the public to volunteer to become ‘First Responders’ here in the north around Corwen, Bala and Llangollen.
It looks as though it’s not only the Rhondda where the Welsh ambulance service is being downgraded!
August 8, 2007 at 4:09 pm |
Jill
That is such a disgrace – the new CEO is boasting about improvements , there was nothing about cutting services in the Valleys
I hope you will challenge Edwina Hart on this – are they cuts in her area -I bet not .
August 9, 2007 at 9:59 am |
I agree. Looks like this policy is being rolled out across Wales. Rhondda and Vale of Clwyd so far, but anybody know where else it’s happening?
Trained volunteers are great, but not at the expense of the professional ambulance service. And it’s a bit of a sleight of hand if they’re claiming what they call ‘first responders’ are the same as the real thing.
August 9, 2007 at 10:58 am |
I’ve got a bucket and some water. maybe I could be a ‘first responder’ if there’s a fire.
August 10, 2007 at 7:43 pm |
i heard allan murray on tv this week claiming the service was the best its ever been. if so why the cuts? surely that’ll only make iy worse.
January 31, 2008 at 7:10 pm |
To all those IGNORANT people here who think first responders are either a joke, or untrained.. SAM TAN….GROW UP…that sort of attitude makes people like you UNwelcome, we are trained professionals, who are good at what we do, there are people who are alive in wales today BECAUSE of us being there.
YOU ALL MAKE IT SOUND SO EASY!!
Yeah, put more ambulances on the road…why not, we have the latest ambulances in the UK at a cost of 130,000 EACH, you want more, I dont suppose you would mind an increase in your taxes either to pay for them. Typical attitude of people who complain about a problem but don’t offer a viable soloution.