News Release

24th July 2007

AMBULANCE MERGER AND LIFE SAVING

In a statement issued to MPs today (Tuesday 24th July), the NHS West Midlands has confirmed that the merger of the Staffordshire Ambulance Service into the West Midlands Ambulance Service will take place on 1st October. The statement (reproduced below) says that this comes about because the "convergence criteria" set by the Government have been met. But Michael Fabricant says "the key criterion, whether paramedics can revive a patient, still shows a huge difference between the West Midlands and Staffordshire Ambulance Services. This criterion, surprisingly, was not regarded as one that mattered.

"The return of spontaneous circulation criterion (ROSC) shows a huge disparity between that achieved in Staffordshire and that in the West Midlands. In March, I told the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, that if your heart stops in Staffordshire you stand you have a 65% chance or recovery while in the West Midlands it is only 35%. On that criterion, there should not be a merger.

"So I shall be keeping a very close eye to ensure Staffordshire's standards do not fall. I hope for the sake of people living in the West Midlands, that the standards of the Ambulance Service rise. It's a fat lot of good an ambulance arriving more quickly on the scene in the West Midlands if they are still unable to save you!"

The report of Michael Fabricant's questions to Tony Blair can be found here:

The statement issued to MPs today is reproduced here:

NHS West Midlands Ambulance service merger