Sussex ambulance staff raise concerns over vehicle cuts

Ambulance staff have raised concerns over a proposal to halve the number of overnight vehicles based in a West Sussex town.

The South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) said it would reduce the number of ambulances in Horsham to one.

Unison said crews were already "run ragged" and the cut would worsen the problem.

However, SECAmb said the decision was based on patient demand and was not made to cut costs.

'Critical point'

Unison representative Roger Laxton said: "We're getting to a critical point where some crews are finding it very difficult and getting exhausted for being out on the road."

He added that when the single ambulance was called out there was a possibility it might not return to Horsham that night, leaving the town "uncovered".

Mark Bailey, from SECAmb, said the service was "working hard" with the union to ensure that the workload on staff was fair.

"We have to make decisions based on the patient demand and what number of resources we need at any given time," he said.