AN OPEN meeting held to discuss the future of the ambulance service – and one of the biggest shake-ups in its history – was attended by just a handful of the public.
The event, at Cleethorpes Memorial Hall, was largely made up of health-related professionals, keen to hear from East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) about its plans.
It has been proposed that Grimsby's ambulance station, in Gilbey Way, and Louth's station, in Windsor Road, would close, as reported.
They would be among many stations in Lincolnshire and the wider region – which bosses claim "are empty most of the time" – to make way for 13 hubs.
These would act as garages or a base for paramedics across the East Midlands, with Grimsby's nearest hub in Elsham. Service bosses are hosting a series of public meetings to discuss the plan.
Alongside this, 131 standby points would be created – one located in each of Grimsby, Cleethorpes and Louth, to provide frontline services with hot drinks and toilets when waiting for calls to come in.
But yesterday, only about 20 people attended – and most of those from health or health-related industries.
They heard from paramedics, who said employing more frontline staff is the only way to improve patient care.
EMAS staff present raised queries relating to delayed response times, inadequate staffing levels and locations of stations proposed as part of the changes.
Paul Benton, operation support manager for EMAS, covering Grimsby and Barton, said: "What we have to remember as staff is that all these proposals can still change.
"Personally, I do not think plans to have the main station in Elsham will stay. I think ideally it should be based at the Diana, Princess Of Wales Hospital."
John Stevens, an emergency care assistant for EMAS, has been with the service since 1974.
He believes increasing the amount of staff and vehicles on the road will be the only way to improve patient care.
He said: "We currently have standby stations across Grimsby; paramedics never have time to stop at them as crews are on the go constantly.
"The amount of 999 calls have increased dramatically over the years; the only way to help this is to bring in extra staff to handle it."
The disappointing turnout did spark questions as to whether there had been enough publicity on the changes.
One frontline employee for the service, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "This was supposed to be a public consultation but felt more like a staff meeting.
"How is reducing our buildings going to help anything – it will just mean we have further to travel to start and finish our shifts."
The consultation will close on December 17. A decision will then be made in January 2013, while the changes will be rolled out between April 2013 and April 2018.
