Ambulance views sought at meeting
VIEWS on proposals to close ambulance stations in Harborough and Lutterworth will be sought at a public meeting taking place on Monday, October 22.
East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) has announced the closures as part of cost-cutting measures which would see the creation of a number of ‘super-hubs’ and standby points across the region, where ambulances will be based.
The service is consulting the public on the changes, which it has dubbed the Being the Best scheme.
The public meeting, which is one of a number taking place across the region, will be held at Lutterworth Town Hall, in Market Street, from 10.30am on Monday, October 22.
EMAS says that instead of having ambulances based at stations, they will be based in tactical standby points, which will not result in a reduction in response times.
A spokesman for the ambulance service added: “The hubs and standby points will be sited according to where they are most able to respond to calls received.”
The spokesman added: “This is based on data and information, as well as local knowledge of road networks and requirements.”
Harborough MP Edward Garnier said he was more concerned about response times than about where ambulances were parked in between calls.
He added: “Every day EMAS receive around 2,000 calls from members of the public calling 999 – so they have a lot to do, but ever since I became the MP for Harborough in 1992 there have been huge question marks over EMAS’s emergency response times.
“If moving from ambulance stations to super-hubs is more than just a change to another, more fancy name for a garage and leads to an improvement in service I will support the move.”
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Weather for Market Harborough
Monday 20 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North
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Temperature: 7 C to 15 C
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