AFTER BEING AT THE LATEST TRUST BOARD MEETING ON TUESDAY IN REDDITCH , IT HAS BECOME CLEAR TO ME THAT WE THE PEOPLE OF SHROPSHIRE HAVE BEEN IGNORED WITH REGARD TO OUR VIEWS ON THE CLOSURE OF THE AMBULANCE CONTROL ROOM IN SHREWSBURY

NEARLY 16000 SIGNATURES HAVE BEEN IGNORED, THE TRUST BOARD SAY THAT THEY WERE HANDED IN BEFORE THE START OF THE CONSULTATION PERIOD!!!!

THE FACT IS THE PETITION TOGETHER WITH A PORTFOLIO OF ANOTHER 35 LETTERS INCLUDING LETTERS FROM YOUR SHROPSHIRE MP'S WERE HANDED IN AT THE TRUST BOARD MEETING WHERE THE BOARD VOTED ON THE PROPOSAL AND WHETHER TO CARRY THE PROCESS FORWARD TO A CONSULTATION PERIOD, IT WAS HANDED IN WITH A STATEMENT THAT WAS READ OUT STATING THAT IT WAS CONSIDERED BY US AS THE OPENING OF THE CONSULTATION PERIOD AND MR MARSH AND SIR MELDRUM ACCEPTED IT AND THANKED US FOR IT !!!!!!

SO 3 MONTHS ON AND THE TRUST BOARD OR SHOULD I SAY THE PRESS OFFICER HAS BEEN BUSY ONCE AGAIN , BUSY MOVING GOAL POSTS AND FUDGING FIGURES YET AGAIN

LEAVING THE STAFF AND THE PEOPLE OF SHROPSHIRE LET DOWN AGAIN ..............

IS THIS THE TYPE OF AMBULANCE SERVICE THAT YOU WANT ???
DO YOU WNAT THIS TRUST BOARD TO CONTINUE LYING TO YOU ???
COVERING UP THE FACTS AND FIGURES???

HOW CAN 16000 SIGNATURES BE IGNORED ????

THEY SAY IN TOTAL ONLY 65 PEOPLE WROTE AGAINST THE CLOSURE !!! ??? DOES THAT SOUND CORRECT TO YOU ????

HAVE A READ ON THESE LINKS AND SEE IF YOU CAN MAKE UP YOUR MIND , THESE ARE VIEWS OF WMAS STAFF MEMBERS

http://www.wmambo.unionweb.co.uk/view/PageView.aspx?Page=434 

WHY ARE THESE BOARDS CALLED TRUST BOARDS ???? !!!! WHEN CLEARLY WE CANNOT TRUST THEM

Ambulance chiefs face questioning

There are concerns about plans to close the Shrewsbury control room
More than 100 people attended a meeting to quiz ambulance leaders over plans to shut Shropshire's control centre.
West Midlands Ambulance Service is looking at closing the call centre and moving the work to Brierley Hill, in the Black Country, or Stafford.

On Tuesday night a meeting was held at Shrewsbury's Shire Hall for members of the public to hear the reasons behind the proposal.

A similar meeting will be held in Telford on Thursday evening.

Ambulance chiefs have said they want to take on as many different views from people as possible before making a final decision.

'More efficient'

However, many of those attending the Shrewsbury meeting said they were concerned the decision had already been made.

The ambulance service has said the move would make the service more efficient and has denied it would be a cost-cutting exercise.

Earlier this month, three workers from the ambulance service were suspended over allegations of breaching the Data Protection Act.

Control room logs were passed to the BBC amid concerns closing the Shropshire control centre would put patients at risk.

MR MARSH AND HIS TEAM FAILED TO ANSWER 50% OF THE QUESTIONS PUT TO HIM LAST NIGHT, HE FAILED TO ANSWER WHY LEAMINGTON SPA AND NOT SHREWSBURY , HE SAYS IT IS NOT DOWN TO COST ? ITS NOT DOWN TO I.T WHAT IS IT DOWN TO THEN ?
COULD IT BE THAT THE LEAMINGTON SPA CONTROL ROOM IS ON  A LEASE FROM THE FIRE SERVICE AND THAT LEASE IS UP IN 2 YEARS .... SO IN 2 YEARS THEY WILL CLOSE TOO! ! THEN MR MARSH WILL HAVE HIS 2 CONTROL CENTRES........ WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ONE OF THESE CONTROL CENTRES FAIL, THE OTHER ONE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO COPE WITH ALL OF THE CALLS, THE STAFF WOULD HAVE A LONG DRIVE BETWEEN STAFFORD AND DUDLEY TO WHICH EVER CONTROL WAS STILL RUNNING, SO HOW LONG WOULD PEOPLE BE WAITING FOR THE SERVICE THEN TO GET UP AND RUNNING.
BY KEEPING AT SHREWSBURY AS A FULL TIME FALL BACK CENTRE, EXTENDING IT TO HAVE MORE SEAT CAPACITY, EASILY DON IN THE EXISISTING BUILDING, WE COULD BE FALL BACK  CENTRE AND TAKE ON OTHER JOBS TOO, SUCH LIKE EMERGANCY PLANNING, CENTRE, FOR FLOODS, EXTREME WEATHER ETC, JUST AN IDEA BUT I AM SURE THERE ARE MANY MORE IDEAS OUT THERE, PLEASE WRITE IN TO THE  E MAIL ADDRESS OR PUT THEM ON HERE, IF MR MARSH WANTS ALTERNATIVES THEN THAT IS WHAT WE WILL GIVE HIM ......THE CLOCK IS TICKING

STEVE JETLEY RESIGNS............
THANK YOU STEVE FOR ALL YOU HAVE DONE FOR THE PUBLIC OF SHROPSHIRE AND THE STAFF OF SHROPSHIRE AMBULANCE CONTROL , GOOD LUCK FOR THE FUTURE . 

YET ANOTHER SPIN ON THE TRUTH........
WHO DO YOU BELIEVE ????

READ THE FOLLOWING LINK TO THE SHROPSHIRE STAR ALONG WITH THE COMMENTS

http://www.shropshirestar.co.uk/2007/08/999-calls-not-hit-by-change/

ALSO NOTE THE EDITORIAL COMMENT FROM THE SHROPSHIRE STAR HERE IT IS IF YOU MISSED IT !

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10th August - STOP THIS SECRECY NOW!!

Any publicity officer worth his salt will tell you that saying ‘no comment’ to the media, or trying to prevent publication of factually accurate information, is not the smartest idea.

It immediately implies that you have something to hide.A dark, damaging secret. So it’s little wonder that county ambulance bosses have found themselves on the wrong end of some rather embarrassing headlines over the past week. It’s bad enough that front-line workers felt compelled to reveal how Shropshire ambulances were being frequently sent out of the county to cover routine work in the West Midlands. It’s worse still that they were then suspended for breaching company policy. But it’s frankly unbelievable that, all the time, there was a perfectly sensible response which would have nipped this controversy in the bud. Having held this back for days, the damage has now been done. Mud sticks in PR terms, and it will take the ambulance service some time to shake off the perception that they’re a closed organisation which prefers to keep its business secret.
When you have highly skilled publicity officers, being funded by the taxpayers, it really should not need front-line ambulance staff, local MPs and a helping hand from the press to bring the true picture into the public domain. Transparency and honesty is always the wisest policy.

Shropshire Star

TWO OF THE THREE STAFF MEMBERS REINSTATED...PLEASE CONTINUE TO SUPPORT STEVE JETLEY
Please also continue supporting the 2 that are back at work, it still is a very trying time for all involved. 
Eight weeks left of the consultation period and yesterday saw the first of the public meetings , the first one was in Worcester with just 21 people attending, the Shrewsbury meeting is on the 28th August at 1930 at the Shirehall, please ralley support and get as many of your friends and family there, Shropshire Ambulance Services employees, please try your very best to attend, the show of support at the meeting on Tues this week was overwelming but there are many many more of you out there that WILL be affected if our control closes.
Telford meeting is on the 30th August at 1900 at the civic centre.....
Meanwhile please keep your letters rolling into to the consultation addresses and your local MP's and Newspapers...... It is too late on the 10th October 2007
We do not want to be saying we told you so !
Thank you

SO FAR WE HAVE HAD 5500 PAGE VEWS ON THIS SITE !!!! PLEASE PLEASE IF ONLY HALF OF YOU WROTE A COMMENT ON THE SITE OR WROTE A LETTER OF SUPPORT THAT WOULD SPEAK VOLUMES

SUPPORT THE SHROPSHIRE 3 !!!!!!

also follow the link to the worcs newspaper, read the article then follow the page down to the comments very interesting comments on here too especially from ambo999 !!!!!
http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/mostpopular.var.1584520.mostcommented.ambulance_staff_plea_to_health_chiefs.php

SUPPORT THE SHREWSBURY THREE !!!!!!

http://www.shropshirestar.co.uk/2007/07/suspension-of-999-staff/

STEVE JETLEY AND 2 OTHER MEMBERS OF STAFF HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED FROM DUTY FOR STANDING UP AND SPEAKING OUT.
WEST MIDLAND AMBULANCE TRUST ARE TRYING TO DISTANCE THIS INCIDENT FROM THE CLOSURE OF THE CONTROL CENTRES !!! THEY COULD'NT BE MORE WRONG

OUR TWO MAIN ARGUEMENTS AGAINST THE CLOSURE OF ANY OF THE CONTROL CENTRES IN SHREWSBURY OR BRANSFORD , ARE THE LOSS OF LOCAL KNOWLEDGE WHEN DEALING WITH 999 CALLS AND THE LOSS OF THE LOCAL CONTROL OVER THE MOVEMENT OF AMBULANCES WITHIN THE SHROPSHIRE AND HEREFORD AND WORCS AREA AND THE SAFETY OF THE RESIDENTS OF THESE TWO HUGE RURAL COUNTIES

These staff members have stood up and spoken out highlighting and trying to educate the public in the daily activities of the trust. The trust spokesman recently said on the local radio station that the movement of shropshire vehicles to the west midland area does not happen ????

They have done this as the feel very strongly with regard to the closure of the control centres and feel that they have had no choice but to step up to the line to try and bring these occurances to the forefront for the public to see.

Please please write and show your support for these 3 , whether you are a member of staff or a member of the public, write to Anthony Marsh at

Anthony.Marsh@wmas.nhs.uk

PLEASE ALSO KEEP WRITING TO THE TRUST FOR THE CONSULTATION PERIOD REGARDING THE CLOSURE OF THE CONTROL CENTRES, THE FIGHT GOES ON AND DESPITE THE TRUST TRYING TO DISTANCE THE 2 STORIES THEY ARE VERY MUCH LINKED

WE HAVE UNTIL THE 1ST OCT 2007 TO GET OUR VIEWS ACCROSS TO THE TRUST BOARD
PLEASE WRITE TO :-
WEST MIDLAND AMBULANCE SERVICE HEADQUARTERS
EOC RECONFIGURATION CONSULTATION
MILLENIUM POINT
WATERFRONT BUSINESS PARK
BRIERLY HILL
DUDLEY
WEST MIDLANDS
DY5 1LX

OR EMAIL :-

consultation@wmas.nhs.uk

All letters to be in no later than 1st of October 2007

THERE IS ALSO A NUMBER OF PUBLIC MEETINGS DATES ARE AS FOLLOWS
Public Meetings

West Midlands Ambulance Service is to hold a series of public meetings to give members of the public a chance to hear more about the proposed reconfiguration of Emergency Operations Centres (EOCs).

The meetings will also give members of the public the opportunity to formally register their views. The meetings will take place at the following locations -

Worcester
Wednesday 8th August - 6.30pm to 9.30pm
Worcestershire County Council, County Hall, Spetchley Road, Worcester, WR5 2NP

Hereford
Thursday 16th August - 6.30 to 9.30pm
Town Hall Hereford Herefordshire HR1 2PJ

Shrewsbury
Tuesday 28th August - 7.00 to 9.00pm Council Chambers Shropshire County Council Shire Hall, Abbey Forgate, Shrewsbury, Shropshire

Telford
Thursday 30th August - 7.00 to 9.00pm
Borough of Telford & Wrekin, Civic Offices, Telford. TF3 4LD

FINALLY WE THANK THE 3 INVOLVED IN THESE SUSPENSIONS FOR STANDING UP AND SPEAKING OUT, YOU HAVE SAID WHAT ALOT OF PEOPLE HAVE THOUGHT AND DISCUSSED FOR A LONG LONG TIME AND WE SUPPORT YOU 100 %

PLEASE POST YOUR THOUGHTS AND VIEWS ON THIS SITE AS THEY CAN BE SEEN BY ALL !

alex [Visitor]

2007-07-31 @ 17:58
Please support your ambulance service
Write to ambulance bosses and your mp and demand the reinstatement of the two Shropshire ambulance staff who have been suspended for standing up and looking after the interests of Shropshire’s residents by proving the regionalisation of the ambulance service is put lives at risk in you community and moving Shropshire control room will only make matters worse

Reply to comment | Edit
Simon [Visitor]

2007-07-31 @ 20:36
Oops.

West Midlands Ambulance Service has been caught out telling porkies! So after denying that emergency service in Shropshire (and presumably other rural areas) is being lost to the big cities, it transpires that Shropshire vehicles have indeed been sent to urban areas (presumably the deal with outstanding urgent cases, rather than actual 999's.)

Had there been no attempt to get extra time on these cases? I could almost understand going to help out with an influx of 999's that couldn't be covered - as hopefully Millenium Point would send vehicles in to Shropshire at any time when assiatnce was needed).

But non 999's???!!!! Hopefully there'll be an investigation into the actions and procedures of Millenium Point Control too, especially the Duty Manager?

I wonder how the somewhat unprincipled PR officers are going to deal with that, beyond the usual gutless "its been investigated and we can't comment" drivel?

Whistleblowing is allowable these days if it can be proved to be in the public interest (as this issue certainly is). To suspend staff members for expressing their honestly held concerns - on the very weak pretext of 'data protection' - is a cowardly way for the Trust to behave.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/shropshire/6924176.stm

11 July 2007
Ms P Doran
Head of HR for BBC&S Locality
West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust
Millennium Point
Waterfront Business Park
Waterfront Way
Brierley Hill
Dudley DY5 1LX

Dear Pat

Thank you for your letter dated 3 July 2007 in respect of the consultation on the proposed reconfiguration of Emergency Operation Centres in the West Midlands.
As we have already made clear UNISON have a number of concerns in relation to the proposals on the future of EOC configuration in the region, but before we are able to formally respond to the consultation document we would request further and better particulars in respect of the information that you have already provided. I would therefore be grateful if you could answer, at your earliest available opportunity, the questions which I pose below. If you are not the appropriate person to answer these questions I would be grateful if you could forward it on to whoever is.
In order to assist you in answering the questions I pose, I will relate them directly to the appropriate paragraphs in the consultation document.
I would be grateful if you could confirm who are the authors of the document headed Consultation on the Proposed Reconfiguration of Emergency Operations Centres in the West Midlands. I would also be grateful if you could confirm whether any of these authors will be involved in making the final decision at the end of the period of public consultation. If, as we suspect, that the authors of this document are indeed the decision makers in respect of this process, I would be grateful if you could confirm how the service intends to ensure that the publics views are taken into consideration and not merely sidelined to give the impression that the public have been listened to.
In paragraph 1.3 of the document reference is made to “a huge amount of work has been undertaken to review what can be done to improve the service provided to patients etc”. Can you provide us with evidence of the work that has been undertaken to review EOC provision and in particular give us examples of the staff and trade union input into this work. Could you also provide us with copies with all feasibility studies that have been carried out that have led to the proposals outlined in this document.
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In section 2 of the document, reference is made to the number of staff employed to work within the current EOC’s and percentage of calls that are received across the region. Can you please provide us with evidence of the minimum staffing levels that are currently required to operate each of the existing EOC’s. Can you demonstrate to us what steps are taken to transfer the work to other EOC’s, should the staffing levels drop below these minimum standards. Can you also provide us with sickness absence rates for each individual EOC over the past 5 years and also examples of the staff turnover rates for each individual EOC over the past 5 years.
Can you also provide specific evidence as to where, in the past 12 months, either due to capacity, staffing levels or technical problems, calls have been diverted to other EOC’s outside of the existing localities, to enable them to deal with the 999 calls.
In section 4 of the document, reference is made to independent data that shows the Trust answers phones more quickly now than it has ever done before. Can you provide clear evidence of this data to demonstrate the improvement in performance.
Reference is also made in this section to the fact that there will be no compulsory redundancies. Can you provide clear evidence to demonstrate what will happen if staff do not transfer from Shrewsbury or Bransford and are unable, for whatever reason, to transfer to front line duties. Can you also demonstrate how you intend to maintain local knowledge within the EOC’s if, as we suspect, a large number of staff do not transfer to the new EOC provision.
In section 5 of the document reference is made to the well rehearsed questioning procedures, which will be used to enable staff to identify patient locations. Can you please provide us with evidence of these procedures and demonstrate how they will be implemented into the new EOC provision, for those members of staff who do not have sufficient local knowledge, such as is currently utilised in the existing EOC configuration.
Can you also confirm whether all addresses are currently logged onto the existing IT systems. Can you also demonstrate how addresses that are not logged onto the existing IT system are identified, particularly if the calls are referred to an alternative EOC outside of the locality.
Reference is also made in section 5 to cross border working and the fact that the service will now operate in a regional capacity. Can you provide us with examples of how and where vehicles are currently being dispatched outside of their locality and the effect that this has on the resourcing and responding to 999 calls within that locality.
Can you please demonstrate how you intend to ensure that local knowledge is maintained if a call is dispatched from an EOC that is not in the locality and local crews are dispatched outside of the area.
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In paragraph 6.2, reference is made to the assessment of all information from national and local work. Can you provide us with evidence of the information that was used and the assessment processes that were undertaken.
In paragraph 6.3, reference is made to the fact that the Trust has agreed on the following proposal. Can you confirm at what level within the Trust this decision was made. Can you also confirm whether the people who made this decision will be responsible or have input into the final formal decision following the period of public consultation.
In paragraph 6.6 onwards, reference is made to the capacity that would be provided by the two regional EOC’s, with a back up at Leamington. Can you demonstrate to us how you intend to deploy this capacity once the decision is made. For example, would it be your intention to utilise all capacity from day one of the new provision or is it your intention to deploy a lesser number from the full capacity from day one. If it is your intention to deploy a lesser capacity, can you please demonstrate to us what that capacity will be and provide evidence to justify that decision.
Can you also provide evidence as to how you intend to run the EOC provision within Staffordshire. Currently a large number of paramedics work within the existing EOC and we will require evidence as to how these will be deployed under the new configuration. If it is your intention to employ a large number of new staff to answer the calls in the Stafford EOC, can you please provide us with evidence of the work that you have undertaken to assess the training needs and support that will be required in the initial stages to ensure that lives are not put at risk by employing a large number of new inexperienced staff.
Could you also confirm as to what implications, if any, there are for those paramedics who currently work within the EOC in Stafford and whether there will be any impact on their Agenda for Change bandings.
In paragraph 6.8 of the document, reference is made to the advantages and disadvantages of Bransford, Leamington Spa and Shrewsbury EOC’s. Can you please provide full details of all the evidence that you have used to justify the comments that you make within this paragraph. Can you particularly provide evidence of the costings that you have used and the feasibility studies you have undertaken to justify your position in respect of these EOC’s.
Can you also provide evidence of feasibility studies that have been undertaken to assess the merits of maintaining EOC provision that would enable the West Mercia locality to retain their own EOC that could potentially work in conjunction with two or more EOC’s elsewhere within the region.
Within section 8 of the document, reference is made to the financial planning and a series of figures are given to justify your current position. Can you please provide us with full details of all the costings that you have to arrive at this position.
Can you also provide us with any assessments that you have done on the potential redundancy costs for members of staff who do not move to EOC or front line duties.
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Can you also provide us with examples of the costs involved in transferring staff from Bransford and Shrewsbury to either Brierley Hill or Stafford. Can you please demonstrate how these costings will affect the proposals as laid out within your document.
In view of the timescales that are left in respect of the public consultation, I would be grateful if you could provide this information to us by Monday, 6 August 2007 at the latest. Following receipt of this information we will be consulting with our members and also members of other stakeholders involved in this process across the West Midlands region.
Can I say how disappointed I am that I have had to request this information in this way, as historically we have always enjoyed a working relationship, which has enabled us to obtain this information prior to consultation documents being made public.
I look forward to your response by Monday, 6 August 2007.
Yours sincerely
Ray Salmon
Ray Salmon
Regional Organiser

SAVE SHROPSHIRE AMBULANCE CONTROL
THE AXE HAS BEEN SWUNG, AS FEARED SHROPSHIRE'S DEDICATED AMBULANCE CONTROL CENTRE IS TO CLOSE, ALONG WITH ANOTHER DEDICATED RURAL CONTROL ROOM IN BRANSFORD WORCESTERSHIRE, THESE ACTIONS WILL COST LIVES AND DEPRIVE THE RESIDENTS OF SHROPSHIRE AND HEREFORD AND WORCESTERSHIRE OF A VERY MUCH VALUED AND SPECIALISED SERVICE.  LOOK AT THE MAPS THESE COUNTIES ARE THE LARGEST INLAND COUNTIES WITH HEAVILY RURAL AREAS THEY WILL BE WITHOUT A LOCAL CONTROL ROOM.
WITHOUT IT YOUR CALLS WILL BE ANSWERED ANYWHERE IN THE WEST MIDLAND REGION CALL CENTRES, STAFFORD, DUDLEY OR LEAMINGTON SPA.  SO THE LIKELY HOOD IS THE PERSON YOU SPEAK TO WILL NOT HAVE A CLUE ABOUT THE AREA YOU LIVE IN.  AND ONCE THE BIG CONTROL ROOMS HAVE DISPATCHED YOUR LOCAL CREWS TO OTHER AREAS OUT OF YOUR COUNTY TO COVER THE LARGE BUILT UP URBAN AREAS OF THE REGION TO MEET DEMAND, THE LIKELY HOOD AGAIN WILL BE THAT THE CREW RESPONDING TO YOU WILL HAVE TO RELY ON SAT NAV EQUIPMENT AND NO LOCAL KNOWLEDGE AS THEY WILL BE MILES FROM THEIR AREA!

WE HAVE NOW GOT 12 WEEKS OF CONSULTATION BEFORE THE TRUST BOARD MAKE THEIR FINAL DECISSION,
BELOW IS A LINK TO THE CONSULTATION DOCUMENT PUBLISHED BY WMAS

PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK AND READ THE CONSULTATION PAPER

WMAS have called 5 seperate meetings round the region at the 5 EOC's to tell the staff what is going to be said in the trust board meeting on the 25th June..... about time perhaps then we can have a full blown campaign based on facts and figures and the public will see what will happen to their Ambulance Service!

COME ON THE RESIDENTS OF SHROPSHIRE AND HEREFORD AND WORCS, THESE COUNTIES ARE HUGE THEY REQUIRE A LOCAL AMBULANCE CONTROL , SIGN OUR PETITIONS, WRITE YOUR LETTERS HAVE YOU SAY