HC Deb 08 February 1988 vol 127 cc111-2W
Mr. Spearing

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the number of fully equipped emergency ambulances in the London ambulance service on 31 December 1987; what are the changes planned in that number for future years; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Currie

There were 363 emergency ambulances on 31 December 1987. Of these, the 263 "front-line" ambulances were all equipped with "motivus resuscitation packs"; the rest were day ambulances which are otherwise fully equipped but do not carry resuscitation packs.

Following a detailed examination of day ambulances, the London ambulance service found that the work allocated to them could be more effectively dealt with by transferring the patient workload to non-emergency vehicles and front-line ambulances. On average, 450 walking and chair case patients per day will be transferred to non-emergency vehicles and 97 stretcher case patients per day will be transferred to front-line ambulances. Front-line and non-emergency staff complements are to be amended to take up the transferred work.

As a result of removing the patient demand from 100 day ambulances, the total emergency fleet size of ambulances will be reduced as follows:

During Year Fleet Size
Ended 31 December 1987 363
1987–88 351
1988–89 314
1989–90 273

This planned reduction of 90 ambulances will be closely monitored by the London ambulance service and pursued only if there proves to be sufficient flexibility in the fleet to deal with peaks in demand and large-scale incidents.

Mr. Spearing

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the number of crews of emergency ambulances rostered, or planned for, by the London ambulance service during each 24-hour cycle of normal weekdays in 1987; whether any changes are planned in that number for the future; and what are the reasons for any change of policy.

Mrs. Currie

The number of crews of emergency ambulances rostered by the London ambulance service during each 24 hours of normal weekdays in 1987 and planned for the future are:

Shift period Number of rostered crews in 1987 Number of rostered crews planned
Early shifts 170 188
Late shifts 154 151
Night shifts 94 90

The London ambulance service's aim is to achieve a better balance of resources throughout London in line with patterns of demand and a more effective relief system for covering absences. This will bring about a further improvement in the response time of ambulances to emergency incidents. Relief staff will be increased from 164 to 270, thereby increasing the actual number of manned front-line ambulances.

The effect on the staffing levels of the service, including additional ambulance persons to convey non-emergency patients transferred from day ambulances is as follows:

Proposed Change
Staff rostered on front-line ambulances (including extra staff for day ambulance stretcher cases) 1,161 +17
Relief staff 270 +106
Emergency service staffing +123
Day ambulance staff 0 -200
Non-emergency ambulance personnel 853 +93
Whole service 2,284 +16

Forward to