AN OSWESTRY councillor has hit out at the West Midlands Ambulance Service over its provision for people in the area.
Heather Bickerton claimed Oswestry people are being treated as second class citizens after South Shropshire received two extra ambulances to increase its emergency cover in the area.
There appears to be nothing in place to enhance the coverage of the ambulance service in the North of Shropshire however, despite its chief executive stating that the additional two ambulances, in Donnington and Shrewsbury, were introduced following concerns over recent responses to emergency calls in the south of the county.
In November, a 14-year-old schoolgirl was left lying in Oswestry’s Morda Road for 45 minutes with a fractured pelvis while she waited for an ambulance to take her to hospital having been struck by a car.
“The need for ambulance cover is just as great in North Shropshire as it is in the south of the county,” Councillor Bickerton said.
“I don’t see why people here should receive a second class ambulance service.
“We have the Orthopaedic Hospital close by and an aging population.
“I think it is absolutely ridiculous and I am very cross about the whole business as we should be getting exactly the same service.
“Oswestry is being treated as a second class citizen and I want to ensure our service improves,” she added.
The mother of schoolgirl Shaznay Messenger described the time it took an ambulance to reach her daughter as “unbelievable” after she collided with a car in Morda Road on November 21, and called for Oswestry to have its own ambulances.
A second schoolgirl involved in the same incident was attended to by an ambulance from Wrexham due to a lack of provision in the area.
An elderly man waited 40 minutes for an ambulance following a fire at his property in Welsh Walls, Oswestry the following week.
The chief executive of West Midlands Ambulance Service, Anthony Marsh said: “I assure Shropshire residents that I will continue to monitor the situation and will take further action if required.”
However, Mr Paul Tulley, chief operating officer at Shropshire County Clinical Commissioning Group, said any new ambulances for North Shropshire were dependant on funding.