Ayrshire doctors to lose emergency car

May 15 2009 by Stuart Wilson

AYRSHIRE Doctors On Call are to axe one of their emergency cars.

The move will leave just two response units to cover more than 200,000 patients.

And sources within the service warn staff will be overstretched and unable to attend call-outs.

The Post understands that ADOC, which was created 13 years ago, is moving to slash huge bills.

A doctor can earn £600 during an average nightshift which covers the patch from Ballantrae in the south to Inverkip in the north.

But from September, only two medics will cover the 73 mile stretch, and could be two hours apart at any time.

Our source said: “It’s nothing but a money saving exercise and the staff are very unhappy.

“It goes without saying that the safety of patients is now going to be at risk because an area this large can’t possibly be covered by only two cars.

“Paramedics will feel the impact when they have to start answering calls that ADOC would normally take.

“The whole system will come under more pressure and nobody can see the logic.”

Three cars currently operate on the ADOC nightshift with another doctor on standby.

The vehicles are based at Ayr Hospital, Crosshouse and Ayrshire Central in Irvine.

The car at Crosshouse will be the one to go when changes are made.

Our source added: “Some calls have started lasting up to two hours with the outbreak of swine flu.

“So it leaves the car out of action and potentially hours away when someone else needs it.

“Taking one of the frontline vehicles off the road isn’t going to help anyone, that’s for sure.”

Health chiefs insist their move, which will be on a trial basis for three nights a week, comes after a review of the service.

Liz Moore, NHS health care director, admitted: “We have looked at service activity during the overnight periods (midnight to 8am) on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and have decided to change the number of mobile teams from three to two during these times.

“A mobile team consists of one doctor and one driver with a fully equipped car to carry out home visits.

“This review will initially be on a trial basis to assess the impact on the service.

“In addition to the overnight mobile teams we presently have one stand-by doctor; this is an on call doctor who can support any peaks in service demand, during the overnight period.

“From September this additional doctor support will increase from one to two.

“During the peak festive period, we will increase our cover to include the three mobile teams with two doctors on standby.”

WHAT’S UP DOC: The Doctor On Call will be harder to locate from September.