§ 7. Mr. Kenneth Lewisasked the Minister of Health what action he proposes to take to speed up the movement of ambulances to accidents when they are called.
§ Mr. LoughlinMy right hon. Friend is not aware of any general difficulties but if 1164 the hon. Member has any particular case in mind I shall be glad to look into it.
§ Mr. LewisIs the hon. Gentleman aware that about three weeks after I tabled this Question I was involved in a motor car accident and have nothing but praise for the ambulance service which attended to me and others involved in the accident? However, what I intended to ask the hon. Gentleman when I tabled the Question was: does he not think that there is some need for co-ordination, because certain areas do not seem to operate an all-night ambulance service while others do and there are differences between parts of the country in regard to the type of support given at night, particularly in regard to road accidents?
§ Mr. LoughlinAll local health authorities are charged with the responsibility of providing as a priority adequate emergency ambulance services. There are bound to be variations between one area and another. Local health authorities are human. If any hon. Members would give me particulars of cases where there is extreme difficulty, we shall be only too glad to do something about them.