Shropshire’s ambulance control centre could be axed as part of West Midlands Ambulance Trust’s restructuring plans, it was revealed today.
The Shrewsbury base, which deals with emergency calls, is one of five in the West Midlands.
But service managers have admitted that number is to be reduced. Officials say no decision has been made but admitted it was likely at least one centre will be scrapped.
The Shropshire control centre in Abbey Foregate is the smallest, employing just 16 staff, compared to more than 100 at the largest, in Brierley Hill, which managers have said is safe.
Staff in Shrewsbury met service chief executive Anthony Marsh on Wednesday who outlined the options available to them should the centre close, including moving to other control centres or other backroom jobs.
Service spokesman Murray MacGregor said efforts would be made to ensure nobody lost their job if the Shropshire centre closed.
He said: “We are currently looking at a reconfiguration of our centres to see what would best suit the West Midlands. Staffordshire is going to be joining us soon, so we are looking at the options available to us. No decision has been taken yet.
“There will be a period of full consultation with staff. It is unlikely we will end up with five control rooms.”
A member of staff, who did not want to be named, criticised the possible closure. He said: “The pressures on staff are difficult enough when answering life and death calls, without the possibility of losing jobs.”
“Transfer to Staffordshire or the West Midlands is not a viable option to staff who have children or do not drive cars or don’t want to drive 30 miles to work then do a 12-hour shift.”
32 Comments
I hope the people of Shropshire understand what a significant blow this will be, and how serious the implications are. The fact is that yes, this control room is small, and is the smallest one of the newly formed ‘West Midlands’ Ambulance Service.
What isn’t so well known, is that in our large, very rural county, it is essential that local control room staff are able to assist us in finding a large portion of our emergency calls. If you think that our satelite navigation is up to scratch you are very, very wrong. Suffice to say that I see first hand the tragedy ambulance delays cause- and yes, at times, every second really does count. Heart attacks, road accidents, babies not breathing…the list is endless. Just think- that delay could be us trying to find one of your loved ones…
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I realsise that this is the managment trying to pennie pinch again, but this is putting the people of Shropshire’s lifes at risk! Why sell a building that is already paid for! sell the ones that are being rented!!!! But that dont collect in hard cash does it… Our rural area is not like mannaging birmingham or stoke on trent! these are area’s that can take long enough to get to without a control room that has no clue of the area or the individual skill levels that the service now has!Our skills are so far apart there is a large risk of a un-skilled personnel going to something that he/her is not trained in. I hope in that situation the indvididual would just leave, but we all know we would try and “DO OUR BEST” and this is not the right answer!! the right answer is to send the correct skilled person in the first place! but this WONT happen if the Shrewsbury control room closes…
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I have had the pleasure of working alongside the control room staff of your county ambulance service and am greatly disturbed by this news. The staff are Shropshire residents and also have an intimate knowledge of both the vast geography of Shropshire and the workings of healthcare systems within it.They are dedicated to you, the residents of Shropshire and the crews they manage. I place my complete trust in them every time i respond to a call and they have my total respect.
I believe that removing this precious resource from our county will be to the detriment of the people of Shropshire. We often rely on the expertise of the control staff when technology fails us (which often happens) to locate difficult addresses in the largest inland county in England. I am also concerned that your very finite ambulance resources will not be available to you and instead farmed off to provide cover to Staffordshire or the West Midlands area. THIS IS HAPPENING NOW!
Finally these are my friends whom I have known for many years and strongly believe this proposed action is a major disservice to these fine individuals and also the people of Shropshire.
Do NOT close our control room.This merger was supposed to be a partnership NOT a takeover
Member of Shropshire Ambulance Service(remember that name before that too becomes history)
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The West Midland Ambulance Service have made the comment that they have not decided yet which centre will close,but make no mistake they are looking really hard and without the population of Shropshire making a fight to keep the centre open they will close it.
Shrewsbury is in the heart of the County of Shropshire and serves one of the largest Counties in England.
These dedicated staff send out Ambulances to respond to 999 calls in all parts of Shropshire, A wealth of local knowledge and experience will be lost if we let this centre be closed. Your help and support is required if you want to retain this vital service.Please write or ring your local MP or your local councillor before its too late.
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This decision if made will most definately cost someone their life im afraid to say.From first hand experience i can confirm that although dudley have the best control centre in the country(yes it looks very impressive from the outside)as im sure the new control centres to be confirmed will be too,through no fault of their own the staff who work inside them have no concept of how vast the county of shropshire is no experience on the constant use of the mapping system and with such a high turnover of staff will anyone ever gain the experience to deal with it.Although shropshires control room is small with a mere sixteen staff the majority of which have over 10years experience of working there know all the shortcuts and pitfalls the satelite navigation system encounters on a regular basis and most importantly know the county inside out this saves vital minutes and seconds to any emergency call(one member of staff who works in one of the large control rooms was reported as saying im sorry i dont know how to use the map as we dont use it hardly)The staff who work in shropshire are so dedicated and care very much about the people of shropshire which is why this all so very hard to accept…
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Everyones help will be gratefully
received
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another example of incompetence from nhs managemant which will cost lives and huge compensation costs against the trust.
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I strongly urge anyone who reads this to contact MPs, media, friends and family. This closure will cost lives.
We cannot get to you quickly in this county without our control room staff.
Please help us to fight this closure- it will hugely detrimental to you and your loved ones.
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I wonder why, if this control room closure is so good for the public of shropshire, isnt it on the WMAS site…?? Something to hide…?? Bet they didn’t exactly shout about ECAs being rolled out either.
Watch Trevor McDonald on the 16th April.
Patient Care…? RIP
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Cutbacks, cutbacks, cutbacks!!!
Only when something goes wrong who will they blame!!!
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This will put lives at risk, Sat Nav has its limitations. That is where local knowledge of the dedicated Staff in Control helps to find the address that both CFRs and Crews are looking for. Saving money COSTS LIVES, but the management want to save money not lives.
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This decision is going to cost alot of lives within our communities. Yes every second counts in every emergency and can be the difference between life and death, The staff in our control room work hard and are dedicated to help save lifes. Think about it seriously when you call 999 who would you prefer someone who knows the county inside out and can get that ambulance to you in minutes or the control that does not know the area and get to you in double the time. Minutes save lives and just think about that seriously and help support the staff.You never know when their help may be required to you or someone you love or care about. So lets get together and support these people.
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is this just another case of the needs of the people being totally ignored. the loss of local knowledge will surely be catastrophic.
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Oh my god, what is the world comming to? Can people be seriously thinking about closing or shutting down something so crutial and precious in helping save people?? I honestly can’t see why it has to happen. keep it open and help the ambulance service to their job, as they are important too us all and they help SAVE LIVES!!
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add you thoughts and comments to the following blog http://www.saveourambulancecontrol.blog.co.uk
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Local knowledge is king, when trying to get to a location quickly. I have a insight into emergency services and a hand from a controller that know that area well is a big help. with Shropshire Ambulance control centre the time a ambulance could take will increase, as crews use technology to get them there. as most of us know technology may be good, but not as good as i would place my life in its hands.
the other thing is accents, when someone phone for help would have a ‘plain’ accent one that the same as theirs. people in Shropshire have difficulty with a Birmingham accent, and in a emergency situation would make communication even more difficult.
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regarding the above blog you will also find links to the WMAS chief executive Mr Anthony Marsh and all local MP’s
Ask yourself this, if reason fails Shropshire will face the consequences of this proposed closure-could you in all honesty say you tried everything to stop this?
For our families, friends, colleagues and county the time to act is right now
SAVE OUR CONTROL ROOM
SAVE LIVES
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I agree with all the comments made
I will be putting questions to both councils asking for them to support the call centre in Shrewsbury I will also be starting a petitionin shrewsbury town next week outside the old Post Office if anyone can help with the stall please give me a ring 01743 240732
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Even though improvements in communications continues at an ever increasing rate, making it possible to control anything from anywhere, if that technology fails in anyway then local knowledge is all and with Shropshire having a greater rural need than other areas “ travel to patient time” is critical.
The building is on an existing site and with a need for extra controllers at any other site to handle the extra calls anyway, the argument of cost savings does not appear to be well made, also the Ambulance crews have a good working relationship with the controllers and are familiar with its operation. “Why try and fix what isnt broke”
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I think this decision is wrong for the community and the people that work for the ambulance service because they will most likely loose there jobs which is unfair!!!! Its been there for all these years so why change something that works well. There is always someone who wants to interfear and makes changes to things that don’t need changing.
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I find it hard to believe that a closure is even in the thinking stage. The service offered touches so many lives in a positive way and the closure should be fought against by the local community. In this day and age to much that effects our health is goverened by the powers that be and judged only by the money it costs. I for one will support any anti-closure campaign and fight for a service which may save the life of someone I hold dear and urge local people not to just moan it shouldn’t happen but stand up and make there thoughts heard.
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How many farm tracks are shown on sat navs?
How many alleyways are shown on sat navs?
How many access access points on railways and motorways etc are shown on sat navs?
How many remote households on unnamed roads are shown on sat navs?
How is a controller who is unfamiliar with the county going to be able to direct help to you when you’re not sure were you are (i.e on one of the counties rural roads perhaps). At least the current controllers can use their locl knowledge plus information they may have obtained from questioning yourself.
ALL OF THE ABOVE WILL BE LOST!!!
Although, I fear anything we do or say will not make any difference. You may or may not be aware that a similar thing is already happening in the fire service. As part of a ‘national’ plan all of the current 40 or so ‘county’ fire control rooms are to be closed and replaced with about ten regional control rooms. This is already happening, Shropshire Fire Control is due to merge with West Mids, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Hereford and Worcestershire in 2009. This new regional control will be in Wolverhampton.
So be warned !
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Shropshire is a unique County when it comes to sparsity often compared to Cumbria but the big difference is that 75% of Cumbria is uninhabited whereas Shropshire with an area of 1,123sq.miles is 98% populated and this makes it very difficult and expensive to deliver any service across the County.To try and do that from a distance relying on technology could dare I say be fatally flawed.
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Unfortunately, As with so many of these ‘periods of public consultation’ I’m afraid that the writing is already on the wall for the Shropshire ambulance control room, as it has been for months. As is so often the case, the faceless bureaucrats in charge of the public purse strings will display an amazing ability to follow due proccess to the letter, whilst having already decided the outcome, arrogantly ignoring the weight of public opinion. Remember the assurances that shropshire would remain a seperate service, just financially managed by the west Mids? Ha! look at the emblems on the latest uniform issue and you will see what the word of West Midlands Ambulance Service is worth to Shropshire people…
Sadly, the only thing that could possibly save the control room would be a massive upwelling of public opinion and support against the cut. Even that would be unlikely to have much effect however, as the example of the Staffordshire ambulance merger shows. There was massive and sustained public anger about the ‘proposed’ (decided!) merger with West Mids, with questions even being asked in the Houses of Parliment, yet all that was achieved was Staffordshire remaining a seperate entity in name alone, and that only for twelve months.
Good luck, people of Shropshire, because WHEN the control room closes, you can say goodbye to satisfactory ambulance cover in Telford and Shrewsbury. The resources in these areas are already being dragged across to the Birmingham and Black Country regions at times of high demand, leaving inadequate cover in Shropshire. This happens because statistically, one or two missed targets in Shropshire are less important than ten or twenty missed targets in the West Mids. except, of course, WHEN THAT ‘MISSED TARGET’ IS YOUR FAMILY MEMBER DYING FOR WANT OF AN AMBULANCE. This will happen more and more when the people controlling the ambulances do not have the best interests of Shropshire people at heart, but targets and statistics instead.
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When are companys and emergency services going to realise that people want to speak with someone who has local knowledge and understand immediatley what they are talking about AND where they are speaking from. The staff at SHREWSBURY are just wonderful. I dont want to speak to someone in the West Midlands when I need an ambulance in Shropshire. PLEASE PLEASE keep local knowledge a priority when making your decision on the future of the Ambulance Service in our county. I also understand that West Mercia is thinking of doing the same with their police switchboard and centralising it to Worcester.What on earth is going on with our emergency services and why are we not being consulted on these very important and dangerous changes to the way our lives are being put at risk.Come on Shropshire people this is your chance to save our ambulance service.
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Shropshire Control is a valuable local asset. With a little modernisation of its technology, it can act as a fallback point for WMAS during major incidents or comms breakdowns. It could be a big mistake to get rid of it.
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If you have a highly skilled knowledgeable dedicated staff placing and guiding the best responce teams to a 999 ‘Why O Why’ change it !! Their understanding of local needs and geography will surely disappear to the detriment of all living in Shropshire.
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please do not let our control room close in Shrewsbury. It is a great service. My wife and i worked on the ambulance for a long time in 1975. there is no better place to be.please the people in control no best. thank you
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Thank you all for your comments so far…….but keep them coming as we need all the support we can get !!!!! lobby your local MP’s , councillors, newspapers etc, write to West Midlands Ambulance Service
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The trouble with this idea is it looks good to the accountants and daft to the rest of the world, but the accountants ultimatley seam to rule.
I live on the Shropshire Welsh Boarder, in Churchstoke. Round here the boarder meanders about with little regard for roads.
Many addresses consist of a house name and a village name.
If the AA can send their patrols to Montgomery instead of Churchstoke, Greenflag cannot find where I am becasue the road name (the local name) is not on the computer and I had to argue with the tow truck driver that going over White Grit was not a good idea despite what his sat nav says what chance do the ambulances have?
Since moving from Birmningham 5 years ago i have had to get used to the fact that addresses are no use without a bit of local knowledege. I have lost count of the number of times I have had to explain to call centre staff that my house has a name not a number, that there is no road name and I do not live in a town.
Parcel carriers often have to ask the postie or phone me to find my house, and I live in the centre of a village.
You try reporting a water leak to Severn Trent’s call centre in coventry having to explain that the village is not in a town or even near one. Having to educate their staff who have only lived in a big city that things are a little different in the countryside is not what you need when you want an emergency service.
You can have the same problems with the police too, West Mercia’s force control centre is miles away in Worcestershire, often they will not be able to locate you, even Shrewsbury can have problems.
North and south Shropshire are big, seperate regions in their own right really, all the little villages near Ludlow are a million miles from the towns in the north and many place names are quite similar. I often get Bromfield and Brimfield mixed up, both are a similar distance from Ludlow on the A49.
We have many tourists in the area from spring until winter, they are not going to know the post code of the road they are driving along, maybe not even the post code of their holiday cottage. Add to that the stress of a situation needing an ambulance and local knowlege is needed.
Mobile phones too can add to confusion, with signals weak in the boarder areas you can often be on a cell site for the wrong area and end up with the Welsh emergency services instead of shropshire or vice versa.
How is an operator in Dudley going to deal with a caller who is actually in Wales?
I say put the managers on the ground in ambulance control with their computers and no local knowlege and see how they get on.
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Believe me when I say that BIG IS NOT BEAUTIFUL, and local knowledge is vital in all emergency services. The larger the area the more devorced from reality the operators become. Do not think for one moment that these guys want this added pressure placed upon them, for they deal first hand with the stress that they and their crews experience when faced with decision making that is vital to life to be made in seconds, and not knowing where the patient in need of help is, local area knowledge is often metter than any SAT NAV divice. Please don’t let this happen.
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shrewsbury forum up and running with a discussion topic
leave your comments there too, we need all the support we can get, help spread the word,tell your friends and family you will be surprised how many people still don’t realise the control room is under threat
http://shrewsburyforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=1026
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