MP petition after review of ambulance stations

An ambulance service has said vehicles will remain positioned according to demand after an MP has started a petition "opposed to the closure of ambulance facilities".

South East Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb) says it will "review its existing estate" in Hampshire and west Surrey after securing a site for an ambulance centre in Farnborough.

Guildford MP Zöe Franklin has started a petition warning of a "real possibility" the area could be left "without a single permanent ambulance station" and opposing any closures.

Secamb said ambulances "would continue to operate within the communities they serve via a network response posts" where on-call ambulances wait to be deployed.

This would allow the NHS trust to position resources "effectively in response to patient demand", it said.

Franklin said it was "of concern that there was no opportunity for elected representatives to discuss these proposals" before Secamb made its announcement.

"I know people are worried about what the impact of these proposals may be, and I share their reservations," she said.

She previously wrote to Secamb seeking clarity about the future of existing ambulance stations in Tongham, Guildford, Godalming and Haslemere.

The MP for Godalming and Ash, Sir Jeremy Hunt, says he has been reassured that "ambulances will not be responding to emergencies from Farnborough" and that ambulance stations would not close until an alternative was operational.

"I will continue to monitor the proposals closely to ensure that residents across Godalming and Ash do not experience any deterioration in ambulance response times," he said.

The Farnborough facility will be what's known as a "make ready centre", where vehicles are cleaned, restocked and prepared before being deployed to response posts.

Rose Parry, chair of the Haslemere Hospital League of Friends, said there had been "huge changes in the way that the ambulance services operate" and vehicles were "mainly out on the road nowadays".

"I hope that the ambulance service will review the current stations and make sure that they're equal," she told BBC Radio Surrey.

"I do think you need to make sure that the whole population is served, not just part of a population."

Josh Taylor, Secamb's head of operations for Guildford, said the proposal would "strengthen local ambulance services by providing modern, fit-for-purpose facilities".

"The new centre would also provide better facilities, training and management support for our teams, while reducing the cost of maintaining older buildings," he said.

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