The news that the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) have delayed their decision on the future of Ambulance Stations across the East Midlands has been welcomed.

EMAS had intended to make the decision on their proposals to close 66 Ambulance Stations across the East Midlands, including the one in Newark, at a board meeting on January the 28th. This has now been put back to March the 25th. EMAS say they will spend the extra time listening to the concerns staff have raised.

Peter Harris said that the main issue was the poor response times in Southwell and Caunton villages – where many calls of a life threatening nature are not responded to within times that Doctors say is the minimum. The time taken to get to emergency stroke and heart attack patients in Southwell and Caunton is poor – and outcomes for our residents are not good enough.

In 2012, for emergency stroke patients for example, 1 in ten Southwell and Caunton patients took nearly 3 hours to get to a hospital, when the advice is for treatment to be started with a maximum of two hours [Recent NHS guidance document from the National Institute of Clinical Excellence]. Less than half of our emergency calls for strokes got to hospital within the two hour ‘golden window’.

Many people have signed petitions against the plans to close the ambulance stations and many of the staff at the Ambulance Service are opposed to the plans. EMAS must concentrate on improving how quickly it responds to emergency calls in our area.

I hope that EMAS will use the extra time to rethink their plans and that they will reach a decision that will mean that the residents of our area get a service that the Doctors say is vital for good recovery from emergencies.