8:16am Thursday 15th May 2008
SUPPORTERS of the Wiltshire Air Ambulance have expressed disbelief over plans to make the service regional.
Great Western Ambulance Trust (GWAS) want to expand the service over three counties and base it in Filton, Bristol.
Under the new proposals, the air ambulance would become a daytime only service rather than its current 24-hour operation, with availability being postponed until a charity is set up and money has been raised for the venture.
Richard Edwards, the marketing director for Monahans, one of the organisers of the White Horse Challenge - which raises money for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance - said: "This idea of changing the service is something that concerns us immensely.
"We've been part of this event for the last three years and have raised £16,000 for the service. It's a local charity, providing for local people. I don't understand why there is a need to change things so that we end up paying more for an inferior service. It doesn't make sense."
Fellow air ambulance supporter David Papworth, whose firm AFL Telecommunications has raised money for the charity, said there was no reason to change the service.
He said: "To use an age old saying, if it isn't broken, why fix it? We've got a highly effective system that works extremely well, why do they want to go and mess it up? It is just not a good idea."
Rachel Spencer-Matthews, the publicity representative for Thamesdown Ladies Choir, said making the service regional was a disaster waiting to happen.
"We have a fantastic service and instead of impeding things, we should find a way to better things, not make them worse," she said.
"The service is a lifeline for people involved in serious accidents who otherwise wouldn't have stood a chance. Taking it away would just be the worst thing to do."
Wiltshire Air Ambulance currently works in partnership with Wiltshire police and the county is the only one that has a service with coverage for seven days a week.
The helicopter can reach anywhere in the county within eight minutes and medical needs are given priority. At present, the two services share the costs.
The police provide over a million, while the Wiltshire air ambulance appeal raise the remaining £350,000 through donations and other fundraising activities.
An employee with close links to Wiltshire Air Ambulance said that everyone in the service was against the plans.
He believed that just the idea to make it a regional service was ridiculous. He said: "I just don't understand why they're doing this.
"In this climate of wanting to save money, they are looking to turn an excellent cost-effective service into one that will not only be expensive, but also less efficient."
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