Ambulance service back in NHS hands

By dblackhurst

AN NHS ambulance trust is set to win back the work to ferry 600 patients a day to hospital appointments in North Staffordshire.

West Midlands Ambulance Service has been told it can provisionally take over the multi-million pound contract from private firm Parkwood, which has run the service for the past three years.

The transfer will be on August 1 but competing bidders have until today to lodge an appeal.

A number of transport companies expressed an interest in the three-year deal, but this was narrowed down to three organisations including Parkwood.

The decision to provisionally award the contract to the NHS trust is said to have overjoyed 90 Parkwood staff who have been in dispute with the company for around two years. The row is currently part-way through a hearing before Government arbitration agency ACAS.

Stoke-on-Trent North MP Joan Walley who has been working with ministers for a resolution called it "a great relief that the patient transport service has returned to the NHS".

The work for the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, Combined Healthcare and the two local primary care trusts had previously been carried out by Staffordshire Ambulance Service which has now been amalgamated with the West Midlands trust.

Operating from a depot in Sneyd Industrial Estate, Burslem, Parkwood ambulances take non-emergency patients to the Hartshill complex, community hospitals and health centres.

Soon after Parkwood took over, the contract was plunged into industrial unrest over the company paying new recruits less than the staff who transferred from the NHS.

The row led to crews operating a work-to-rule in late 2007, but they suspended the action to allow for arbitration.

Ray Salmon, regional officer with health union Unison, pictured below, said: "We are delighted the contract is reverting to the NHS and the staff are now looking forward to resolving these outstanding issues.

"They have shown exceptional commitment and professionalism to their patients at times when they faced much provocation from the company and it has been their dedication which has maintained the quality in the service."

The switch was also welcomed by the Stoke-on-Trent Local Involvement Network (LinK) health watchdog.

Its ambulance sub-group chairman Ian Syme said: "There have been concerns from staff and patients about the Parkwood contract. With West Midlands NHS Ambulance Trust taking over we hope at long last the troubles have been identified and addressed."

Mark Gough, regional head of West Midlands ambulance non-emergency services, said "We have received a notification of intent to award but there is now an obligatory cooling off period allowing for any bidders to challenge or appeal."

A Parkwood spokesman said: "We made it all of the way through to the final round of interviews. As far as I know we are not going to appeal."