Newark could lose one of its two dedicated ambulances during the early hours of the morning.

East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) is considering removing an ambulance between 2am and 6am.

The proposal, which is included in a wider consultation, has angered campaigners who say EMAS has previously failed to meet response targets in Newark and Sherwood.

The change would leave one vehicle operating 24/7, with the other in service from 6am-2am.

The chairman of the Say Yes To Newark Hospital campaign group, Mr Francis Towndrow, said: “We know that when you need an ambulance, you need it quickly.

“The time that it takes to reach a patient and get them to hospital is critical.

“It is imperative that we keep two ambulances, and even increase the number beyond two.

“Twenty-three miles to hospital is far too far without taking risks, which is what they seem to be doing at the moment.”

EMAS said: “The proposed changes are all about making sure we have our staff and vehicles where they are needed to respond to patient demand.

“If a patient from Newark called 999 for a life-threatening emergency we will send the nearest, most appropriate available crew regardless of whether they started their day at Newark Ambulance Station.”

'We support the reasons for ARP'

EMAS has joined the national Ambulance Response Programme (ARP) ­— a redesigned system for ambulance services in England that aims to ensure patients get the most appropriate response first time.

A spokesman for Newark and Sherwood Clinical Commissioning Group, which commissions healthcare services, said: “We support the reasons for ARP and hope this will have overall benefit for people who live in and around Newark.

“We are working with EMAS to help ensure the most appropriate response is put in place to emergency calls and that people are not taken outside of Newark unless this is essential.

“We will continue to review services following any proposed changes to ensure that district response times are not adversely affected by changes to ambulance allocations.

“Experience tells us that response times appear to be affected more by how EMAS deploys its overall resources across larger areas of the county, rather than the number of ambulances based in Newark specifically.”

System switch explained by ambulance service

The resdesigned system for ambulance services is not about the fastest response times, according to the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS).

It said the new system — the national Ambulance Response Programme (ARP) — was about providing the most appropriate clinical response for each patient.

ARP is endorsed by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, the Stroke Association, the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, and the College of Paramedics.

Under previous standards, 75% of life-threatening and emergency calls should have been reached by EMAS, or a first-responder, within eight minutes.

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, revealed that last year, in the NG23 area, which includes Collingham, Flintham, Kelham and Claypole, EMAS reached 18% of Red 1 patients ­— those needing a defibrillator ­— within the target time.

It reached 15% of Red 2 patients — those not immediately needing a defibrillator but who were in a life-threatening condition — within the target time.

In the NG24 area, which covers Newark, Balderton, Fernwood, Coddington, Farndon and Winthorpe, 76% of Red 1 patients and 60% of Red 2 patients were seen within the target time.

The new regime aims are:

• Calls about people with life-threatening injuries and illnesses to be responded to in an average time of seven minutes.
• Emergency calls to be responded to in an average of 18 minutes.
• Urgent calls that could see a patient treated by ambulance staff in their own home to be responded to at least nine out of ten times within two hours.
• Less urgent calls that, in some instances, would see patients given advice over the phone or referred to another service such as a GP or pharmacist, would be responded to at least nine out of ten times within three hours.

'Not every 999 call is a life-threatening emergency'

Mr Keith Underwood, paramedic and ambulance operations manager, planning and performance, for Nottinghamshire, said: “We are consulting with our colleagues and trade unions on a proposed new operating model to help us achieve the full benefits of ARP, which EMAS joined in July 2017.

“We are not planning to reduce the overall number of staff, and the way that people access the 999 emergency ambulance service will not be different.

“People will still ring 999 and our emergency operations centres will ask the same questions that they do now to determine the best response for each patient.

“Our skilled paramedics and ambulance staff are highly qualified and experienced, and will clinically assess a patient before taking them on to the most appropriate place for the continuation of their treatment, if appropriate.

“Not every 999 call is a life-threatening emergency.

“The programme has been introduced to give a more clinically appropriate response to 999 calls and to improve response times to critically-ill patients, and our operating model change is about improving services for our patients.

“We need the right operating model to deliver ARP to ensure we have the right balance of ambulances and fast response cars, and the right staff on duty at the right time and in the right place to respond to 999 calls.”