§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if, pursuant to his statement of 9 November,Official Report, column 1219, he will list those areas of the United Kingdom where the non-emergency ambulance service has been adequately replaced by other forms of transport; and what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government for the non-emergency ambulance service in London.
§ Mrs. Virginia Bottomley[holding answer 14 November 1989]: Health authorities were advised in 1984 that it was open to them to buy in part of the ambulance service if that is more cost-effective and provided that the quality of service is maintained. A number of NHS ambulance authorities are using private contractors, the hospital car service and the voluntary aid societies to transport appropriate NHS patients. The table shows by ambulance authority the number of patient journeys carried out in England in 1987–88 (the last year for which we have figures).
437W
Ambulance authority Directly provided services Agency services Hospital car Rail Air Other All services England Cambridgeshire 80,617 0 111,376 0 0 0 191,993 Norfolk 182,564 0 140,731 325 0 0 323,620 Suffolk 197,491 0 75,938 189 2 0 273,620 Bedfordshire 119,159 0 36,451 0 0 0 155,610 Hertfordshire 260,539 0 21914 0 0 0 282,453 Essex 265,011 0 218,641 3 0 0 483,655 East Sussex 255,920 0 199,465 43 8 0 455,436 Kent 421,259 0 31,758 3 1 0 453,021 Surrey 253,530 0 209,700 6 15 0 463,251 West Sussex 141,262 0 136,953 145 3 0 278,363 London Ambulance Service 1,435,423 120,971 186,686 1,764 21 19,396 1,764,261 Dorset 114,527 0 260,314 51 0 0 374,892 Hampshire 227,881 20,035 232,812 104 3 0 480,835 Wiltshire 45,086 1,061 120,908 12 0 80,133 247,200 Isle of Wight 20,146 876 0 0 0 0 21,022 Berkshire 131,884 0 55,080 15 0 0 186,979 Buckinghamshire 142,373 3,570 36,603 1 0 0 182,547 Northamptonshire 170,596 0 14,398 239 0 0 185,233 Oxfordshire 110,681 0 64,940 7 0 0 175,628 Avon 6,461 0 56,665 39 1 1,243 64,409 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 49,577 373 76,376 449 180 0 126,955 Devon 220,340 0 460,472 346 10 9 681,177 Gloucestershire 147,477 0 74,388 136 0 0 222,001 Somerset 99,934 0 67,748 106 0 0 167,788 Hereford and Worcester 169,849 181 117,260 9 0 0 287,299 Shropshire 101,201 0 35,491 37 0 0 136,729 Staffordshire 262,271 0 11,689 92 0 0 274,052 Warwickshire 96,529 0 4,573 52 0 0 101,154 West Midlands Metropolitan 786,469 125,410 0 440 6 26 912,351 Cheshire 406,997 0 16,186 84 0 0 423,267 Mersey Metropolitan 648,240 0 0 260 4 120 648,624 Lancashire 403,608 0 17,144 122 0 78,392 499,266 Greater Manchester Metropolitan 894,719 32,381 32,485 170 4 363 960,122 The management of the London ambulance service is the responsibility of South West Thames RHA. The arrangements under which it provides a non-emergency service are a matter for that authority in discussion with the other three Thames regions and their district health authorities.