HC Deb 12 June 1996 vol 279 c185W
Mr. Hoyle

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what expenditure has been undertaken by ambulance services on the procurement of systems to prepare for the prioritising of ambulance response times; and if he will list the systems. [32205]

Mr. Horam

A number of ambulance services have procured systems which offer telephone advice to callers as well as enabling prioritisation of calls. The Department of Health has commissioned a research evaluation, in two ambulance services, of the safety, reliability and costs of two types of system considered for use in this country. These are the medical priority dispatch system and criteria-based dispatch.