TWO of the Forest's largest towns will lose their ambulance stations under far-reaching new proposals announced this week.
Both Cinderford and Lydney will no longer have permanent bases and Forest mercy crews will work from the Coleford station, said Gloucestershire Ambulance Service estates project manager Andy Kardynal.
"We are looking at the whole of the service throughout the county in our strategic review, with the changes first affecting Stroud, then Gloucester and Cheltenham with the Forest last," said Mr Kardynal, who added the underlying brief was to speed response time.
"This means changes in Lydney and Cinderford are five to six years away, but with the service then based in Coleford, there will still be cover in all towns with crews setting out to park at convenient places for their shift."
No mention was made of what will happen to the stations but it is assumed they will be sold.
And in a statement this week the service's director of operations Keith Scott said: "Due to the increased number of emergency calls and the need to respond to 75 per cent of all life-threatening calls within eight minutes, the days of having all our ambulances on stations are numbered."
Speaking for Bream Health Forum, secretary John Hale said the changes would be a matter of trial and error and it remained to be seen what the effect would be, especially if large-scale emergencies put pressure on the system.
"The proof for patients will be improved response times," he said, adding it was impossible to get through to Gloucester or Cheltenham in rush hours.
"I met the ambulance service chiefs last autumn and they asked me then to help them find what they called 'perching places' for crews to wait. Obviously these need to be near toilet facilities and it would be helpful to be near refreshments too.
"However since that meeting I have heard nothing more – I wasn't even told of this week's announcement."