Rayleigh and Wickford MP, Mark Francois, met with the senior management of the East of England Ambulance Service a few days ago to ask them a number of pointed questions about the state of the service.
Mark held the meeting in his Westminster office, with Andrew Morgan, Interim Chief Executive of the East of England Ambulance Service, Neil Storey, Director of Emergency Operations and Maria Ball, Chair of the Trust, and he raised a number of issues relating to response times to emergencies and the care of elderly patients.
This follows on from an afternoon that Mark spent prior to Christmas out “on the run” with an ambulance crew based at Rayleigh Ambulance Station – where Mark was able to see for himself some of the challenges that ambulance crews face in their day to day work.
During the sometimes candid discussion, Mark was updated on the performance of the Trust, including plans by Andrew Morgan, the interim CEO, to recruit more paramedics in order to try and improve the availability of ambulances to respond to emergencies.
Commenting on his recent meeting, Mark Francois said:
“I have had a number of representations from constituents over the past few months about problems with the ambulance service, which is why I went out with a crew prior to Christmas to see things for myself. Unfortunately some of these problems have persisted and that is why I wanted to meet with the senior leadership of the Trust – to look them in the eye and to insist that they do better. I understand that the Trust have now produced what is in effect a turnaround plan, and that this is due to roll out over the next few weeks and months. It is very important that this plan is put into effect as my constituents - and indeed people across Essex - have a right to expect an efficient and effective ambulance service.”