Concerns have been raised regarding the quality of ambulance service being provided to rural areas. This comes after West Midlands Ambulance Service faced criticism following two deaths in which emergency callers faced problems obtaining defibrillator access codes. The Staffordshire Moorlands District Council has now called for an investigation into the disparity in coverage, reports suggest.
During a meeting held earlier this week, Mike Gledhil, leader of the council, expressed his concerns about the West Midlands Ambulance Service not being responsive to the needs of the Moorlands. Gledhil called this a serious issue and highlighted the existence of a significant level of disparity in the quality and responsiveness of service between urban and rural areas.
One such incident that prompted this call for an investigation was the case of 73-year-old John Beardmore. In October 2022, Beardmore’s family dialed 999 when he began experiencing breathing difficulties. His niece, Julie Downie, tried to get the defibrillator from the village hall but neither the ambulance call handler nor the supervisor could find the code needed to open the box. Even though the ambulance eventually arrived, two hours and 13 minutes after the first call was made, it was too late to save Beardmore.
The West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust has acknowledged concerns about the length of time it takes medics to reach rural patients. The service recently claimed a correlation between ambulances getting stuck at hospital accident and emergency departments and ambulance waiting times, thereby justifying their poor response times to calls from rural areas. Bosses went on to say that doubling the number of staff members and increasing fleet numbers by two-thirds would be required to provide equivalent response times in rural areas.
The findings of the investigation by Staffordshire Moorlands District Council into the quality of ambulance services in rural areas are eagerly awaited by observers, given this is an important issue demanding quick resolution.
*This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations
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