§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the provision of ambulances per thousand citizens (a) nationally and (b) in Cambridgeshire.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe latest available statistics were compiled for the year 1982–83 by the York health authority. These show that the average number of ambulances per 100,000 population served was 15 for England and 12 for the Cambridgeshire ambulance service. However, these figures are not a good measure of service provision, since they take no account of distances to be travelled, traffic density, etc.
§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement regarding changes made in ambulance cover in the light of closures of hospital casualty departments.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeStandards of provision for both the emergency and non-emergency elements of the ambulance services have been set by our Department in relation to response times for emergency calls and waiting times for routine journeys. Responsibility for the day-to-day organisation and management of the ambulance services within those standards has been devolved to individual health authorities. In considering any rationalisation of accident and emergency services" we would expect a health authority to take into account the implications for the ambulance service, and to ensure that the standards we have set are attainable in the changed circumstances.
Satisfactory accident and emergency services depend on the support of highly trained staff, and a range of sophisticated equipment such as is available at a distict general hospital. We recognise that rationalisation of accident and emergency services based on such hospitals may, in some cases, mean longer journeys to hospital for treatment. The disadvantages of this are outweighed in most cases by the increasingly sophisticated services available from the ambulance crews, coupled with the benefits from the concentration of medical and nursing skills in a major accident arid emergency department.