Ambulance workers from across the east of England are heading to Parliament today to ask MPs to stop the closure of Bedford’s emergency call centre, says UNISON.
The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (EEAST) currently runs three emergency operations centres (EOCs) — in Bedford, Chelmsford and Norwich — where trained call-handlers receive 999 calls, giving life-saving assistance during medical emergencies and experienced local dispatchers send ambulances where they’re needed, says UNISON.
But in September, EEAST told staff it was going to shut the Bedford EOC, diverting calls to Chelmsford and Norwich, because of the poor state of the building.
Worried staff signed a UNISON petition warning the decision would mean dozens of highly trained and experienced staff would lose their jobs and that the remaining EOCs were already stretched and would struggle to cope.
That caused the trust to step back from its immediate closure plans and promise to properly consult staff on the future of the Bedford EOC and consider whether or not to move to a two-EOC model, says the union.
However, the threat of closure still hangs over Bedford EOC staff and ambulance workers are taking their case to Parliament today to ask MPs to defend services.
UNISON Eastern regional organiser Lucas Bertholdi-Saad said: “No-one would deny that the site hosting the Bedford EOC needs work to bring it up to scratch, but to move out and dump staff with more than a millennium of collective experience just doesn’t make sense.
“Bedford MP Mohammad Yasin has already been vocal in supporting these skilled call-handlers and dispatchers, but it’s vital more parliamentarians put pressure on EEAST to keep these highly trained workers in the trust.
“Shutting Bedford’s EOC and losing these skilled staff would have ramifications across the region. EEAST should do the right thing and keep an emergency operations centre in Bedford.”
