GRIMSBY will remain a hub for the ambulance services after a major shake-up of stations.
East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) bosses have been given the green light to go-ahead with the reorganisation of its service, which could include a refurbishment of the Gilbey Road site.
Plans announced last year included replacing the stations, including Grimsby's on Gilbey Way, with 13 hub stations – the nearest to Grimsby being in Elsham – and 118 community ambulance points.
That was later revised to nine hubs – the nearest based in Scunthorpe, as well as 19 stations including in Grimsby and Louth and more than 100 community ambulance points with toilet, rest and eating facilities.
Now EMAS chiefs will implement the revised plan, with both Grimsby and Louth retaining their ambulance stations – and Grimsby could also get a new station.
The reorganisation was initially put on ice after a review was called for by Lincolnshire county councillors, as reported.
An Independent Review Panel, set up by the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, has decided a review is not now needed.
A spokeswoman for EMAS said: "In light of this judgment, we will now be pressing on with the planned reconfiguration of our estate holdings in Lincolnshire, alongside those taking place across our other divisions.
"This will include a detailed analysis of which premises may be suitable for upgrading to 'hub status' or whether new builds are required.
"We will also be working closely with the Lincolnshire health scrutiny committee to provide them with the information they believed was lacking during the public consultation phase.
"It is to be hoped that this will lead to them having a better understanding of the pressures staff and the organisation are working under and why our Being The Best initiative will lead to improved levels of performance and patient satisfaction."
A campaign to save the stations had been launched after EMAS announced it planned to close 65 stations and replace them with 13 hubs, supplemented by more than 100 community ambulance points, known as Caps for short.
Two of these are expected to be stationed in Cleethorpes and Immingham, though their final locations are yet to be decided.
They could be housed in existing fire or police stations.
Shortly before his resignation in the summer, former EMAS chief executive Phil Milligan told the Grimsby Telegraph the Grimsby station had not undergone any refit for many years.
At the time of the initial reconfiguration of ambulance services, he said: "We will now be in talks as to whether we plough money into bringing the current station in Gilbey Road up to scratch or if we knock it down and rebuild elsewhere.
"The best news for North East Lincolnshire is that either way a station will remain in the area."
EMAS said the aim of the Being The Best programme was to improve response times to emergency 999 calls and to improve the working lives of frontline staff.
They estimated there would be a four per cent improvement in the response to 999 calls.
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