Union chief slams ambulance sell-off plan

The non-emergency Patient Transport Service (PTS) which is operated by the Yorkshire Ambulance Trust, has now been put up for tender by York Hospital.

That means the service will be up for grabs by any private firm which wants to bid for it.

In other parts of the country, contracts have been won by firms like GSL UK, formerly known as Group 4.

The move has been branded deeply worrying by a York ambulance union leader, who said privatisation could affect both patient care and staff jobs, with up to 30 people potentially affected.

Paramedic Glen Gears, Unison area secretary for the ambulance trust, said: "We're tremendously disappointed.

"Historically, the PTS has always done that job. It's a role they know inside out.

"A lot of the patients we move have known our staff for years. Sometimes they're the only people they see in a week.

"It's happened nationally down the country. Other hospitals have gone down this route and the experience has been that they have had a significantly worse service.

"You may be able to get a cheaper option, but you end up getting a significantly lower level of service.

"That's a real concern, not only for our staff but for the patients.

"People who work for the NHS tend to be very dedicated. When you get a private service which runs it for profit, you're not in it for patient care.

"Given the climate, I can understand why they've done it, but I would strongly urge them to remain with the ambulance service.

"There's a real worry that potentially other hospitals in the area could look at doing this. It could have a serious negative impact on patient care."

The move comes as the hospital faces having £8.2 million slashed from its budget this year because of reduced funding from the cash-strapped Selby and York Primary Care Trust. It has already announced having to axe 60 beds by next year.

Mr Gears said having a private company operate the service could mean ambulances would not be able to respond as effectively to major incidents like bus crashes.

Patient Transport Service vehicles, which can carry up to 14 people, can be deployed at incidents where there are many people involved to quickly carry those with minor injuries away from the scene, leaving emergency crews free to deal with the more seriously hurt.

Mr Gears said: "If you've got a lot of patients at any major incident, you need to sort out the walking wounded from those who need serious treatment.

"With three or four PTS ambulances, we can provide a level of care capacity to move large numbers of patients very quickly. With our own PTS, we can deploy them appropriately.

"If you lose that, you're having to negotiate with another organisation to try to get them to attend your major incidents. That's going to have an impact.

"They might want paying for it. With major incidents, it could be about money and it should be about the patient."

There were also fears about the level of training staff in private PTS vehicles would have.

Drivers of the current ambulance-run service had some first aid training and were able to use their skills if they were the first at the scene of an accident.

Julian Sturdy, Conservative parliamentary spokesman for York Outer, said it was crucial any decision on the future of the PTS did not affect patient care.

He said: "With any major incident or accident, it's critical to get the correct medical care back at the hospital. It's crucial in saving lives. That mustn't be affected in any way."

Mike Proctor, director of nursing at York Hospital, said: "I understand the concerns, but it's a little premature to talk about the implications of an award of the contract, when it's still out to tender.

"We've a good working relationship with the ambulance service, and I'm sure they will want to put in a good, competitive bid for this service."

A Yorkshire Ambulance Trust spokesman said: "This is all about the NHS ensuring that patients receive the best service possible for the best value.

"With our many years of experience in this field, we're happy to compete and to put forward the best possible bid."

Playing a waiting game over trust status

YORK Hospital's bid for foundation trust status has hit a fresh delay as crunch talks continue on how much money it will get this year.

The announcement on whether the hospital will be awarded foundation status, which gives it more freedom to make its own decisions, was originally due at the beginning of August.

But it had to be put on hold because of high-level talks with the cash-strapped Selby and York Primary Care Trust (PCT) on how much it could afford to pay the hospital this year.

The hospital's financial situation will be one of the factors for NHS bosses in deciding whether it can be given foundation status.

It is facing having at least £8.2 million slashed from its budget this year because of multi-million pound savings which the PCT is having to make.

The new decision on its foundation status application was due on October 1, but its bid will now be considered during next month.

Chief executive Jim Easton said in a report to hospital board members: "Monitor, the NHS Foundation Trust regulator, has agreed to consider our application for NHS Foundation Trust status at its October board meeting.

"This further delay is in recognition of the continued difficulties in agreeing an SLA (service level agreement) with the PCT.

"I am grateful to them for their flexibility, although clearly there are limits on how long consideration of our application can be delayed."

Meanwhile, the hospital has now published its annual report for 2005/6, which gives a detailed breakdown of its achievements, and problems, over the past year.

The report reveals: