Ambulance service wants feedback over station closures

East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) is urging members of the public to have their say before the end of a three-month consultation over services.

EMAS wants to close 53 ambulance stations and open 13 purpose-built "hubs".

Phil Milligan, the chief executive of EMAS, claimed the bigger stations would help provide a better service.

EMAS also plans to create 131 standby and community ambulance posts across the region.

Dr James Gray, medical director for EMAS, said: "Our current buildings are in need of major repairs and refurbishment, with an estimated cost of 拢13m needed to put them right.

Quick response

"Fifty years after some of them were built, some are not in the best place to allow us to respond quickly."

He added: "Our emergency ambulance vehicles are our mobile emergency treatment centres.

"We don't provide direct medical care at our stations - the more money we can spend on our vehicles and our front-line colleagues, the better.

"We must ensure that we get patients to the 'right care, in the right place, first time' so they receive the best treatment possible."

EMAS covers Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire and handles more than 600,000 calls a year.

In 2011, it was the slowest service in the country for responding to these less urgent calls with a response rate of 74.3% from 17,591 calls.

The consultation will run until Monday.