Campaigners have vowed to keep fighting the closure of the town’s ambulance control centre – despite an official announcement it will be shut within a year.
West Midlands Ambulance Trust bosses made the decision yesterday to axe the Abbey Foregate control centre and replace it with two large out of county emergency centres.
Trust bosses had previously said the present system lacked the resilience to deal with a major incident and so all emergency calls in the region will now be dealt with through larger centres in Brierley Hill and Stafford.
Campaigners including MP Daniel Kawczynski have vowed to fight yesterday’s decision and will stage a protest outside the ambulance control centre on Sunday afternoon.
Former trust employee Steve Jetley, who resigned from his post over plans to move Shropshire’s ambulance control out of the county, said the announcement showed very clearly, trust managers care nothing about the people of Shropshire.
“They care nothing about the opinions or cares of the people of Shropshire and most importantly don’t care about the lives of people in Shropshire because they are now being put at risk.
“We will be holding the protest on Sunday and want as many people as possible to come down and support us and show how strong feelings still.
“The fight isn’t over.”<
Mr Jetley accompanied Mr Kawczynski when he presented Parliament with a petition signed by 16,000 people in an attempt to secure government intervention. The MP also defied police earlier this week by protesting against the closure outside the door of Number 10 Downing Street.
Mr Kawczynski said he held a placard outside Number 10 about the closure of Shrewsbury’s ambulance control centre. “Cutting costs is cutting lives,” he said. “I’m absolutely convinced it would be detrimental to my constituents.”
He said he would protest outside the Ambulance control centre alongside Mr Jetley and other campaigners.
He added he was very disappointed with the decision: “I’m very angry and will be challenging what they are doing certainly in Parliament.”
A trust spokesperson said the proposals would be continually reviewed throughout the process and said members had agreed to provide support to staff affected by the closure.
Tracy Jones, Unison senior representative for Shrewsbury ambulance station and control room and a frontline ambulance worker in the town, said: “We are disappointed and shocked even though we felt all along these proposals were going to be fully supported.”
By Anna Wood