§ 2.1 pm
§ Mr. D. E. Thomas (Meirionnydd Nant Conwy)I beg to ask leave to present a petition. As hon. Members will know, I represent a rural constituency spread over north and mid-Wales and the petition concerns the grave threat to the ambulance services in the constituency, evidenced by the recent plans of the district health authority. The petition says:
To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled. The Humble Petition of residents of the Meirionnyd Nant Conwy area sheweth that they are gravely concerned about the Gwynedd Area Health Authority's plans for reorganising the ambulance service within the Constituency.
The concern of my constituents arises from the position of the high proportion of the elderly within the population and the fact that, within the health district itself, there are no district general hospital facilities. All the acute services are provided outside the district at the centres of Bangor, Llandudno, Wrexham, and Aberystwyth. The transport of acute patients to these centres is determined by an effective ambulance service, and the ambulance service also ensures that there is adequate provision for emergencies during the tourist season, when the district receives many outside visitors.
In addition, the maternity services and other acute services provided for people of working age within the constituency are located mainly outside the health district. The concentration of resources within the major district general hospitals should be supported by provisions within the communities for an ambulance service. The Welsh Office, through its formula of resource allocation to health districts, has not calculated properly for the ambulance service in the district and the petitioners feel strongly that the allocation made by the Welsh Office should include sufficient money for the provision of an ambulance service within the district. The alleged overspending of £400,000 by the health district on the ambulance service should form part of the allocation of the Welsh Office to the health district.
The petition ends:
Wherefore the Petitioners pray that your Honourable House should take the necessary steps to ensure that the Health Authority do not make any cuts in the service and that they continue to maintain a full service throughout the constituency as heretofore.
And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
To lie upon the Table.