§ Ms. Harmanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what were the hours worked by the personnel of the London ambulance service in South-East Thames region in 1985; how many were employed by it full-time in 1985; and what are his estimates of numbers of personnel and hours to be worked in South-East Thames in 1986.
§ Mr. WhitneyI regret that I am unable to give the hon. Member precisely the information she requires. The number of hours worked by the London ambulance service is not available. However, a normal working week
South east division of London ambulance service* Emergency Non-emergency Total Mileage in 1985 808,687 2,029,105 2,837,792 Mileage in first quarter of 1986 192,823 423,397 616,220 Estimated mileage in 1986 838,000 1,600,000 2,438,000 * Follows South-East Thames boundary but includes Croydon district health authority which is part of South-West Thames regional health authority.
§ Ms. Harmanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what requests have been made by the South-East Thames regional health authority to district health authorities in respect of the use of the London ambulance service; and what is the target of that authority's request of reduction in the number of non-emergency cases to be carried.
§ Mr. WhitneyIn a letter dated 20 March 1986, the general manager of the South-West Thames regional health authority wrote to the general managers of the three other Thames regions requesting district health authorities to reduce the demand for non-emergency ambulance transport for walking cases by 40 per cent.
§ Ms. Harmanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many non-emergency cases were carried by the London ambulance service in South-East Thames region in each of the years 1984 and 1985; and how many he expects to be carried in 1986.
§ Mr. WhitneyI regret that I am unable to give the hon. Member all the information she requires as the number of cases carried by the London ambulance service is not collected. However, the number of actual non-emergency journeys for the South-East division of the London ambulance service is as follows:
448Wis 40 hours and applying that to the following staffing figures for the south-east division of the London Ambulance Service should give a reasonable approximation:
South East Division of London Ambulance Service* Ambulance Personnel Average Number of Staff in Post Average Weekly Overtime (wte)† Worked Average Weekly Total (wte) Actual 1985 497 105 602 Targets 1986 497 25 522 * Follows South East Thames boundary except for Croydon District Health Authority which falls in South West Thames Regional Health Authority, but is served by staff from South East Division. † Whole time equivalent. Source: London Ambulance Service.
§ Ms. Harmanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what mileage was covered by ambulances run by the London ambulance service in the South-East Thames region in 1985 and in the first quarter of 1986; and what is the estimate of that to be run in 1986.
§ Mr. WhitneyThe information requested is as follows:
Number of non-emergency patient journeys 1984 actual 513,381 1985 actual 496,742 1986 estimated 400,000