§ Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what mileage was covered by ambulances run by the London ambulance service in 1985 and in the first quarter of 1986; and what is the estimate of that to be run in 1986.
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§ Mr. WhitneyThe information requested is as follows:
Emergency Non-emergency Total Mileage in 1985 3,695,393 7,772,822 11,468,215 Mileage in first quarter of 1986 949,377 1,689,232 2,638,609 Estimated mileage in 1986 3,800,000 6,000,000 9,800,000
§ Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what were the hours worked by the personnel of the London ambulance service and how many were employed by them full time in 1985; and what are his estimates of numbers of personnel and hours to be worked in 1986.
§ Mr. WhitneyI regret that I am unable to give the hon. Member precisely the information he requires. The number of hours worked by the London ambulance service is not available. However, a normal working week is 40 hours and applying that to the following staffing figures should give a reasonable approximation:
Actual 1985 Target 1986 Average number of staff in post 2,062 2,328 Average weekly overtime (wte)* worked 491 116 Average weekly total (wte)* 2,553 2,444 * Whole-time equivalent.
§ Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will state the number of non-emergency cases carried by the London ambulance service in each of the years 1984 and 1985 and the numbers he expects to be carried in 1986.
§ Mr. WhitneyI regret that I am unable to give the hon. Member all the information he requires as the number of cases carried by the London ambulance service is not collected. However, the number of actual non-emergency journeys is as follows:
Number of non-emergency patient journeys Number 1984* 2,269,009 1985* 2,200,627 1986† 2,038,000 * Actual. † Projected.
§ Mr. Spearingasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what requests have been made by the South-West Thames regional health authority to district health authorities in respect of use of the London ambulance service; what is the target of that authority's request of redirection in the number of "non-emergency" cases to be carried.
§ Mr. WhitneyIn a letter dated 20 March 1986, the South-West Thames regional health authority asked district health authorities to reduce the demand for non-emergency ambulance transport for walking cases by 40 per cent.