Community paramedics begin working in Whitchurch, Oswestry and Craven Arms
New teams of advanced paramedics will begin working in three Shropshire towns from this morning, bringing permanent round-the-clock dedicated cover to the areas for the first time.
Five Community Paramedics will be based at Whitchurch, Craven Arms and Oswestry ambulance stations.
They will be dedicated to their towns and immediate surrounding areas and are in addition to the current level of ambulance cover in Shropshire.
They are paramedics who have received additional training making them advanced Community Paramedics with extra skills and treatment procedures that traditionally would have meant taking the patient to A&E.
They will be based at the towns’ current ambulance stations which, contrary to speculation, are not closing.
Whitchurch ambulance station continues to operate in Queensway but will move to new premises in the town at a later date. The new premises will be known as a Community Ambulance Station.
Work has begun on the new Community Ambulance station within Oswestry Health Centre in Thomas Savin Road. When completed, it will replace the current traditional ambulance station in Morda Road, Oswestry.
In Craven Arms, a new smaller Community Ambulance Station will be situated on the current site of the traditional ambulance station along the A49. The surplus land will subsequently be sold.
The introduction of Community Paramedics is part of West Midlands Ambulance Service’s ‘Make Ready’ plan.
It involves the creation of a new vehicle preparation and maintenance hub on the site of the formerly traditional ambulance station in Wrekin Drive, Donnington. The hub in Donnington went live in April 2012. A new hub is also planned for Abella Business Park, Shrewsbury.
Across Shropshire, the remaining traditional ambulance stations owned by West Midlands Ambulance Service have been, or will be, put up for sale and replaced by a greater number of Community Ambulance Stations, including a new station in Wellington and in Telford town centre which previously didn’t have an ambulance station and three new Community Ambulance Stations in Shrewsbury in addition to the planned hub in the county town. The savings made from the sale of traditional ambulance stations will be invested in the frontline ambulance service.
Earlier this year, Community Paramedics were introduced to Ludlow, Market Drayton, Tweedale and Bridgnorth.
