[Report 1953] / Medical Officer of Health, Denbighshire County Council.

  • Denbighshire (Wales). County Council. no2004062613.
Date:
1953
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1953] / Medical Officer of Health, Denbighshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    itul'viclua’s. Iles-ulcs, the Ambulance Service must respond to ])riorities, and alternative means of transport, to be decided upon by consultation, must be used under certain circumstances, h'ollowing a minor operation, there can be but exceptional cir- cumstances wdien a patient cannot travel by rail, especially wdien the roads are snow and ice bound. Yet one consultant refused to allow a patient to travel a short journey under these cir- cumstances and flatly refused to give any reasons for such an attitude. Without administration this service would become chaotic and, as has been stated, the Local Health Authority must, under present legislation, insist upon this being recognised by those who make demands on the service. The ambulance transport is provided on an agency basis by the Welsh Home Service Ambulance Committee and the Colwyn Bay Ambulance Corps. Apart from three paid drivers, the ambulances are manned by volunteers. It is pleasing to pay tribute to the excellent work which these men have done freely for this service; but the lack of central control, the independent and parochial attitude of each station and the difficulty of estab- lishing a personal responsibility add considerably to the complex- ities of co-ordination. A scheme for the provision of a central control at 16 Grosvenor Road, Wrexham, has been under consideration for a long time but it has not yet resulted in any definite action. Day to day control of the use of ambulances and sitting case cars in the Western part of the County was delegated to Dr. McKendrick and his staff at Colwyn Bay. This policy was designed to ensure closer control and greater co-ordination of daily administration of the service. The success of this decentral- isation is reflected in the reduction in the total mileage in the Colwyn Bay area as shown in the fol'owing comparative table:— Patients Conveyed 1952 1953 Total 1952 No. of Miles 1953 Ambulances 1758 1984 42541 37357 Sitting Case Car and Hospital Car Service 4637 3265 46336 34809 Total 6395 5249 88877 72166