Campaigners take to Ludlow's Castle Square to petition for better emergency care in South Shropshire

The campaign is calling for more Community First Responder volunteers and for a return of Rapid Response Vehicles and ambulances serving the local area.

Also in the square was an ambulance, Anthony Marsh the Chief Executive of West Midlands Ambulance Service, Philip Dunne, Ludlow MP, and WMAS staff and crew. They were there to sign up more Community First Responder volunteers and also to recruit trainee paramedics.

Councillor Darren Childs, founder of the ‘Ludlow and South Shropshire Need Ambulances’ group, commented on the day:

“It was great to see a drive to recruit more Community First Responder volunteers. The numbers have gone down and down and down over the last decade – from over 1100 ten years ago to around 300 last year. If you have a cardiac arrest or you stop breathing, then absolutely fantastic to have a local volunteer who can reach you quickly.

"BUT – and this is where we disagree with Philip Dunne MP – Community First Responder volunteers can never, ever be a substitute for trained paramedics, nor for ambulances that can get you to hospital quickly. An ambulance that’s coming to Ludlow from Shrewsbury or Hereford is going to take 40 minutes or more. In a medical emergency that’s just too long. Lives are being put at risk here. We must get a local ambulance service back.”

Campaigners note that as recently as 2017, Shropshire had two operational hubs, seven community ambulance stations, and a further two standby points. Now, all ambulances in the county are based at Shrewsbury and Telford.

Councillor Childs added: “Well, it’s an ‘efficient’ model for an ambulance service that’s having to make cuts – but it’s rotten for all of us in Shropshire who don’t live near Shrewsbury or Telford.

"We all know there’s a general crisis in the NHS just now – not enough beds, not enough staff, problems discharging patients from hospital because social care is struggling, a fair number of Covid patients still. This is where we need all of our MPs in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin working with health leaders to replace the current cutbacks with strategic funding that can help improve things.

"But you know what? Out here in Ludlow and South Shropshire, we’re not going to sit back and die quietly while we wait for all this to get sorted out. A life in Ludlow has the exact same value as a life in Shrewsbury or for that matter, a life in Manchester or London. We can’t have our lives written off because someone decided to save money by taking our ambulances away.”

Philip Dunne acknowledged there is much to be done to improve ambulance response times in South Shropshire and pledged to continue his work with the Ambulance Service, having scrutinised latest ambulance response times in South Shropshire with WMAS Chief Executive Anthony Marsh and campaigner Cllr Darren Childs on Saturday.

Commenting on the current service Mr Dunne said: “There is still much to be done to improve the ambulance service in South Shropshire, where response times have deteriorated markedly since last July. I am meeting NHS leaders across Shropshire this Friday and unblocking the handover logjam for ambulances queuing at our acute hospitals is top of my list.

"But I am encouraged by the immediate steps taken by WMAS to address recruitment concerns. The exhibit in Ludlow was a good indication of widespread support and interest in Ambulance Services across our community.”

"I encourage any constituents interested in either the Community First Responder programme or a career as a Paramedic to sign up now.”