10/07/14 -Great News! North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust have suspended their proposals to reduce Ambulance cover on nights in Carlisle and the Rapid Response Vehicle RRV in Penrith on nights as part of a cost improvement plan.
Indeed they have decided to suspend all frontline service cuts throughout all of the North West.
The reason is that NWAS have received additional monies that is non-recurrent but will cover the cost of reducing frontline services for this year.
Our campaign has therefore been successful but will continue again next year if NWAS decide to adopt similar proposals.
Our petition was presented at No 10 Downing Street last week and totalled 11,500 signatures which included this online petition. Thank you for you support. Read more http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/11352023.Ambulance_service_is_spared_cuts_of___2_2m/
Do not reduce Ambulance Resource in Carlisle and Penrith Cumbria by a third at night -times as part of money saving proposals that may affect patient care.
Why is this important?
Cumbria is the second largest county in England covering 2632 square miles, therefore it is extremely challenging for an Ambulance Service to provide excellent clinical care in a timely manner.
As part of a cost saving plan the management of our Ambulance Service are proposing to reduce night time cover by a third in Carlisle, Cumbrias only city. They are also reducing the night time provision provided by a Rapid Response Car in the town of Penrith which is manned by a Paramedic some 16 miles south of Carlisle.
This will have a detrimental impact on patient care & safety as a reduction in resources will mean that patients may have to wait even longer than they do now on some occassions.
It will affect not only residents in Carlisle but most probably all of North Cumbria as Ambulances that cover outlying rural towns & villages are pulled into Carlisle to respond to the proposed shortfall in resource.
Cumbria is a unique county and as such cannot and should not suffer any detriment in the provision of patient care provided by the Ambulance Service just because of its size.
We are campaigning to keep the Ambulance resources that we currently provide for our patients within Cumbria. To make these cuts will have an impact on patients and could ultimately cost lives.
Please support our campaign
