10 Questions that need an answer
Harriett Baldwin, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for West Worcestershire will visit the Brierley Hill Ambulance Call Centre on January 12th 2009 at 2pm.
999 calls for Worcestershire were received at the call centre at Bransford, near Worcester until December 1st 2008, when they were moved to a West Midlands Call Centre at Brierley Hill.
Since the switchover, call response times have dropped and a number of serious incidents have been reported.
Harriett Baldwin said, "I objected strongly to the closure of Bransford because of fears that ambulances would be sucked out of Worcestershire into the greater West Midlands conurbation to meet targets and local knowledge of Worcestershire would be lost in the transition. There is a high level of public interest in the performance of the ambulance call centre since the closure of Bransford. I have been contacted by members of the public and ambulance staff with worrying stories that suggest our worst fears are being realised. We need answers to ensure that people in Worcestershire receive at least as good a service as they have been used to before Bransford was closed. I am also working closely with the Worcestershire County Council Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which meets Ambulance Trust Chief Executive Anthony Marsh on January 19th at County Hall.
I have sent the Brierley Hill management a list of 10 questions in advance. These are:
1. How many Bransford staff transferred to Brierley Hill?
2. On any given day since December 1st 2008, how many Bransford staff have been on duty on the 'phones during each shift?
3. Since December 1st 2008, what has been the daily performance against the Category A and B targets for Hereford and Worcester calls, and how does that compare with December 2007?
4. For Category A calls that miss the target, how long have delays been in H & W in Dec 2008 versus Dec 2007?
5. What has been the volume of H & W calls in Dec 08 versus Dec 07?
6. How many ambulances/ambulance drivers and paramedics have been located in H & W during each shift in Dec 08 versus Dec 07?
7. How many WMAS 54 forms and ROSC forms were raised in Dec 07 versus Dec 08 for the H & W locality?
8. How does staff sickness compare for the Bransford staff in these two periods?
9. Is it planned that meal breaks will soon become unpaid, and if so, what impact is that likely to have on staff availability?
10. How is the new computer dispatch system performing and can I see it in action?"