Last week an ambulance was called to an emergency in Harrogate at 7pm. The ambulance did not arrive for another hour and the patient was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at hospital.

The two ambulances on duty in Harrogate were in York and Scunthorpe respectively.

"This is an appalling state of affairs" said Phil Willis MP (Lib Dem, Harrogate & Knaresborough). "For both Harrogate ambulances to be miles away from the town is unacceptable.

"We will never know if that lost hour would have saved my constituent but how can we have confidence in a system that allows for no ambulance cover in Harrogate?

"I have every sympathy with the ambulance drivers who do a sterling job. But they cannot be in two places at once.

"I am determined that the ambulance service must no longer be the Cinderalla service of the NHS. People working in the ambulance service have told me that morale is at rock bottom.It needs greater resources and better management which will in turn lead to higher morale amongst those employed in the service.

"I am therefore delighted that the Secretary of State for Health has made a commitment to investigate the circumstances leading to my constituent's death. I am also pleased about his reassurances that Ambulance services and paramedics are a crucial part of the Darzi report.

ENDS

Editors Note:

Extract from Hansard:

30 Jun 2008 : Column 607

Mr. Phil Willis (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (LD): I was a little concerned about the fact that the right hon. Gentleman did not mention the ambulance service at all in his statement. A week ago, one of my constituents called for an ambulance at 7 o'clock; by 8 o'clock, when an ambulance eventually arrived-all the ambulances were in York and Scunthorpe and were not available-she was dead. What does the Secretary of State have to say to her family, and to others who do not get the care that they need simply because there is no ambulance available for them?

Alan Johnson: I very much hope and trust that that is an exception to the normal rule, and I will look into the circumstances of that case if the hon. Gentleman would like me to do so. Ambulance services and paramedics are a crucial part of the report. When he has had a chance to look at it-I appreciate that we are talking about 10 SHA visions in every region of the country, followed by an enabling report by my noble Friend Lord Darzi-he will see that the issue is crucial to ensuring quality. Paramedics and ambulance staff are even more important now, particularly as regards stroke care, which we talked about earlier. Care for a stroke patient should start at the moment when the ambulance arrives, not when the patient gets to hospital.