AM happy with ambulance car cuts u-turn

A U-turn on cuts to Pembrokeshire’s volunteer car ambulance service has been welcomed by Preseli Pembrokeshire AM Paul Davies.

The service relies on an army of volunteers to ferry patients without cars or access to public transport to and from hospital.

But it was told at one point that it would have to dramatically reduce its mileage because it was giving more lifts than it was contracted to provide.

Now bosses have decided that it can continue operating as it was before.

“I am delighted that this vital service is now back on track,” said Mr Davies.

“In the first week of the reduced service, forty hospital journeys had to be cancelled. If that had continued it would have had a severe impact on Pembrokeshire residents.

“We are talking about scores of people who rely on the service to get to hospital for such life-saving treatments as dialysis.

“This whole situation seems to have been a bit of a muddle with the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust blaming a lack of communication for the sudden reduction.

“However I now hear that things are back to the way they were before and I’m happy that the volunteer drivers and their clients no longer have this uncertainty hanging over them.”