West Midlands Ambulance Service community station review

The trust says it will notify staff before any changes are made

West Midlands Ambulance Service says the future of its community stations is under review.

It has 11 such sites in addition to its main ambulance hubs, with the review focusing on 10 of them.

Only 5% of calls have a response from the local bases in Shropshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Staffordshire, it says.

According to the service, the review is about "making the best use of all our resources".

The ten community ambulance stations (CAS) being reviewed are in Craven Arms, Malvern, Evesham, Market Drayton, Bridgnorth, Oswestry, Biddulph, Leek, Rugby and Stratford-upon-Avon.

The 11th, in Stourport, is set to close next month, with staff relocated to other sites, a spokesman said.

A union representing ambulance workers has been contacted for comment.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said staff would be consulted over any changes proposed as a result of the review.

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In a statement, the service said: "Ambulance crews are busy responding to one emergency after another and rarely, if ever, go back to the site except for shift changes and meal breaks.

"The ambulances based at the CAS sites are rarely there - only around 5% of the cases in the area are actually responded to by the ambulance based at the CAS site. The other 95% are responded to by ambulances that start and finish their shifts elsewhere."

In July, West Midlands Ambulance Service reported its busiest day to date in which it received more than 6,400 emergency calls.