Madam,

I was disgusted to see in the national news that it is being suggested that sick ambulance staff are pushing the service to breaking point.

This is not true.

The reason why the crews are at breaking point is because of a policy implemented by the Welsh Ambulance Service (WAS). There is a strategy in place called Geographic Deployment. Basically what it means is that ambulance crews are moved to higher-density population areas 24 hours per day.

So, although there are stations in most of our local towns - Tywyn, Dolgellau, Bala, Barmouth, Porthmadog, Pwllheli and Blaenau Ffestiniog - the staff are often not there when there is an emergency as they have been moved to Bangor, Wrexham and Llandudno.

This also means that the crews are driving hundreds of miles each shift and are not near their stations at break times.

Do you think it’s fair that they are having to drive on blue lights at high speed on our local roads for up to 50 miles to get back to us in an emergency?

They then have to deal with the issue and convey patients back to A&E another 50 miles.

They often have to wait for breaks for the toilet for up to four hours and are rarely back in area for the end of their shifts.

Night shifts are spent being disturbed to go on ’Jump Cover’ to another station 20 miles away and they are then being told half-way there to turn around and go back, which is frustrating and tiring and needless.

Of course they are fatigued and are unwilling to do overtime to cover shifts that are empty due to lack of staff.

Yes, they have high sickness levels and it’s affecting mental health.

They are on their knees and the system is close to breaking.

The cost of geographic deployment to the physical and mental well-being of the crews is very high.

The cost to the Welsh Ambulance Service in fuel and servicing costs of the vehicles is huge because of it.

The carbon footprint of each vehicle is massive. When will managers and pen-pushers actually start to see how destructive this policy is?

It is not the staff who are failing the service, they go above and beyond their job description everyday.

The policy is causing the stress, fatigue and sickness and if the ambulance service was to stop this policy for just a month they would start to reap the benefits.

Yours etc,

C Hopkins, Dyffryn Ardudwy.

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