May 2000 - Essex County in United Kingdom
Outcry over 999 closure
A petition to save Dunmow's ambulance station was launched this week as the town rallies to back crews considering striking. Town councillor Frank Silver will canvass shoppers at Tesco supermarket between 10am and noon on Saturday, giving them the chance to sign their support for the 999 link. And he was in no doubt that the response would be overwhelming. He said the issue was dominating talk on the streets: "My feeling is the same as everyone in the town. It would be absolutely disastrous to lose the ambulance station."
He poured scorn on suggestions that ambulances would be able to reach the town from Chelmsford or Braintree within eight minutes, pointing to constant hold-ups on both the A120 and A130. He was angry that the Essex Ambulance NHS Trust, which wants to close 12 stations across the county, including Dunmow, plans to deploy crews at 27 stand-by points at roadside laybys, car parks and some stations. The trust wants to release �2.4 million capital and save �114,000 a year running costs. The money will be reinvested to help meet government response targets, but Mr Silver said the planned new measures would destroy staff morale.
Mr Silver, also chairman of the Dunmow Town Strategy Group, was adamant that the growing population needed the station, which, if lost, would never be restored. The petition will go to the trust and the county's health authorities. The threat to Dunmow and the other stations has sparked a war of words between the trust and UNISON, the union representing crews.
At a meeting last week, union representatives from all the Essex stations met at Chelmsford. They resolved to oppose any closures and the use of standby locations, vowing to formulate their own alternative plan. But members warned: "If ambulance management fails to heed the view of its own staff or general public opinion, we agree to seek the support of our national trade unions to conduct a ballot for industrial action."
A spokesman for the trust countered: "It fully accepts that ambulance staff have a legitimate point of view and is perfectly prepared to listen to alternatives. But it finds it particularly regrettable that UNISON should already be talking about industrial action even before the informal consultation is considered."