1 February 2009
Harriett Baldwin spent Saturday night, January 31st, on the front line of Worcestershire's ambulance emergency response network.

Working with highly skilled paramedic team leader Mike Belcher, she began the evening at Pershore Ambulance Station and moved into Worcester to be ready for the evening's likely calls. It was a relatively quiet evening and the calls attended were related to too much alcohol intake. None needed hospital treatment.

Harriett Baldwin said, "Although the Brierley Hill computer system is recognised as being sub-standard compared to Bransford, the teething difficulties from December seem to have been worked through. With sheer hard work and dedication, front line ambulance staff and dispatchers have adapted and response times are settling down at acceptable levels for the second half of January."

"We are forecast to have cold weather in February, and it is likely to be very busy again. Management have presented an extensive action plan to the Worcestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee on January 19th to make sure that they have learned the lessons from December's cold spell. The implementation of the new computer system is planned for April/May 2009 and this time it is essential that sufficient training is planned for users. I will continue to scrutinise Worcestershire's performance numbers."