Station fate up in air
Ambulance services under review with double crewing
St John has recently completed a review of ambulance services in Woodville and Pahiatua as part of the Double Crewing Project.
“We have confirmed that we will cease ambulance operations from the current Woodville Ambulance Station, and have referred discussions regarding the future use of the building to our Dannevirke Area Committee and Central Regional Trust Board,” said Jeff Mabbett, St John territory manager. “Through the consultation phase, we were pleased to be able to meet with members of the previous Woodville Free Ambulance Association to understand the circumstances around the donation of the station. To date, there has been no decision on the future use of the building.
“The staff member that has been based in Woodville will transfer to Pahiatua and alongside three new staff, will support double crewing of the ambulance based there.
“In addition to three new staff, we intend to place a new First Response Unit in Pahiatua that may be flexibly deployed in Pahiatua and Woodville based on volunteer availability.
“We will review our service in Eketahuna in year four of the project, likely in mid to late 2020,” he said.
Woodville residents Kevin McIntyre and councillor Peter Johns are concerned that the use of the building stays with Woodville.
“The building belongs to Woodville, it was built with Woodville-raised funds and was built by Woodville people for the use of medical services in Woodville,” said McIntyre.
“St John got the contract for ambulance services in the area. Woodville used to have its own Free Ambulance service. Once St John got the contract for the whole district, if you rang 111, they would send the call to Palmerston North, Pahiatua or Dannevirke. Woodville was cut out of it.
“After consultation in the town, it was decided St John would take over the ambulance service. But it was on the proviso that the money raised for Woodville to buy a new ambulance ($56,000) was held in Auckland in an interest-bearing trust account for Woodville. Eventually the ambulance station was built out of that money.
“It’s Woodville’s and it’s there for any provider of medical services in Woodville. I am concerned that it is not sold-off to be as an asset of St John, because it still belongs to Woodville. This concern came up because of the double crewing criteria, which we didn’t meet,” said McIntyre.
“We had a meeting with Steve Yanko, area manager for St John, and I said that if the building ceases to be made available to Woodville for medical purposes, it will be over my dead body,” said Johns.
“It would seem that the issue is one of a lack of volunteers. It would be useful to know to what extent St John has made any effort to encourage volunteers in Woodville for the ambulance. It’s still, in my view, not too late to rectify that.”
■ Double Crewing Project: In May 2017, the Government committed to invest $59.2 million over four years to end single crewing of emergency ambulances. The Double Crewing Project and wider implementation of a new service delivery model will add 375 new staff and allow St John to deliver on its vision to end single crewing of transporting ambulances in New Zealand by 2021. Double crewing will be better for patients by ensuring there is always a clinician to provide care en route to hospital, and safer for staff by reducing fatigue, manual handling injuries and stress associated with lone working.
The new service delivery model is a fundamental change to the way St John delivers emergency ambulance services to communities. Instead of maintaining an ambulance station and transporting ambulance in every community or suburb, St John is transitioning to the deployment of a network of response capability that provides the best possible ambulance coverage to New Zealand communities, within the available funding.
In regional towns, St John will provide double crewed ambulances that deliver emergency care in the local area as well as provide transport capability for surrounding communities. In more rural and remote communities, St John is introducing First Response Units, crewed by local volunteers to provide early assessment and treatment of patients, supported by a nearby transporting ambulance.
The response network is supported by highly trained staff on clinical and air desks and through partnerships with PRIME doctors, FENZ, and air ambulance providers.