OXFORDSHIRE’S amb- ulance service is struggling to fill 260 paramedic vacancies to cope with demand.

The South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) has revealed it’s relying on private firms to respond to call-outs because it cannot cover them with its own staff.

And in the last year SCAS has doubled the number of times it contracted firms for emergency call-outs.

The high cost of living in Oxford, lack of housing and low wages have been blamed for the failure to retain or replace enough staff.

Our top stories

A senior SCAS boss revealed the issues his organisation faces at an inquest on Thursday.

Oxfordshire Coroner Darren Salter said two ambulance staff from contractor UK Specialist Ambulance Service (UKSAS) prematurely pronounced the death of Caron Kiernan, 55, in a field outside her home, near Kidlington.

Although he said their actions did not make a difference to the eventual outcome, issues were raised about the use of private firms.

Mark Ainsworth-Smith, consultant emergency care practitioner for SCAS, said London-based UKSAS was one of five companies used by the service.

He said there had been a 25 per cent increase in demand on the trust since 2010, telling the inquest it was difficult to retain staff because of the high cost of living. Mr Ainsworth-Smith added that it was a less attractive career because trainee paramedics now took longer to qualify – sometimes taking between two to five years, as opposed to 16 weeks in the past.

He said: “We have 260 outstanding vacancies for paramedics. To meet current demand we need to mobilise basic ambulances. We use third party ambulance providers to cover shortfalls in ambulances and staff.”

Last December, when UKSAS staff were called to help Mrs Kiernan, private contractors attended nine per cent of call-outs on behalf of SCAS – but this has since increased to 16 per cent.

Contractors use their own vehicles and staff but some of the equipment is the same as that used by SCAS employees. Mr Ainsworth-Smith said the service works with the contracted companies on training and visits their premises to carry out random checks.

An SCAS spokeswoman said the service has 1,280 frontline staff, including 890 clinicians such as paramedics and nurses.

It also has 208 ambulances, including 34 in Oxford.

She said: “South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust recognises that demand is rising significantly year on year and our recruitment plans are challenged to try to meet the increasing need for more and more paramedics. There is a national shortage of paramedics and this is not just a local issue.

“Our workforce plans for 2014/15 are a combination of extensive recruitment both locally, nationally and internationally, as well as the use of private providers.”

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith told the Oxford Mail: “It’s a huge concern if the service has such a huge shortfall in provision and it must be costing it a lot to fill the gap with this private provision.

“To be 260 paramedics short looks like a crisis to me.

“The cost of housing is a huge problem when it comes to both recruitment and retention, and there needs to be a premium for people living in Oxfordshire that reflects the high cost, like in London.”

Unison South East regional organiser Sarah O’Donoghue blamed low pay and not enough internal training for the failure to replace outgoing staff.

She said: “While SCAS started training staff externally rather than internally some time ago, other competitor trusts have been investing in internal training.”

Ms O’Donoghue said other ambulance services have considered increasing staff pay but SCAS has remained the same. Some staff have also quit for other jobs with better pay and conditions, she said.

She added: “There’s no robust plan to close the gap between need and provision.”

Oxford City Council leader Bob Price said the lack of affordable housing in and around Oxford was a “big problem” for employers, especially the health service.

Under the NHS Constitution, ambulances have to reach the most seriously ill patients within eight minutes for 75 per cent of calls.

Latest figures, for April 1 to May 15 this year, show this was 92 per cent in Oxford but 52 per cent in rural West and South Oxfordshire.

The service has previously said it would need 90 more ambulances to hit the target.

 

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed