AM’s concerns as volunteer ambulance service faces uncertain future

Pembrokeshire’s volunteer car ambulance service is facing an uncertain future, Preseli Pembrokeshire AM Paul Davies can reveal.

The service relies on an army of volunteers to ferry patients without cars or access to public transport to and from hospital.

But it is now facing cutbacks because the service has been giving more lifts than it was contracted to provide.

“It seems there has been a fairly major cutback in the number of miles per week that the service has been told it can provide,” said Mr Davies.

“I hear that up to 40 hospital journeys had to be cancelled in the first week of the new system,” he added.

It is understood that the sudden decrease has now been blamed on a lack of communication between Ambulance Service bosses and the volunteer drivers. There will now be a more gradual, stepped decrease in the service instead.

“I have contacted the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust (WAST) about this and they have confirmed that the service had a “financial burden” because it was ferrying more people about than it was contracted to move,” said Mr Davies.

“WAST says it will only cancel booked patient transport as a last resort, however this will not give much reassurance to the scores of people who rely on the service to get to hospital for such life-saving treatments such as dialysis.

“I am very concerned to hear about any cutbacks because I am sure that every journey provided by the service is a necessary one. I just cannot see how they can lower the mileage without affecting services.

“I am now writing to the chief executive of WAST expressing my grave concern and asking for a greater clarity about the situation.”