AMBULANCE crews in Breconshire and Radnorshire are being routinely sent to other parts of Wales leaving towns in the area with depleted vital cover, it has been claimed.

Employees within the Welsh Ambulance Service in Breconshire and Radnorshire have voiced their fears over the issue, with one member speaking out this week alleging that lives are being put at risk as stations in the region are being left unmanned due to crews being sent to cover other areas.

"Ambulance crews are being deployed elsewhere to cover their shortfalls in shift crews which leaves stations in our area depleted by manpower for large periods of time," claimed a paramedic.

"This is totally unacceptable as we are entitled to an adequate and efficient service in this area. In my opinion it's reached crisis point."

However the Wales Ambulance Service has said that while it is inevitable that vehicles are sometimes deployed out of the Powys area, as they are duty bound to send the nearest available resource if a patient is seriously ill or injured, vehicles from neighbouring health board area will, and do, provide additional cover in Powys when demand is high.

Rachel Edwards, the Welsh Ambulance Service's head of operations for Powys told The Brecon & Radnor Express: "These are tough times for the Welsh Ambulance Service and the NHS in Wales as a whole, and demand in recent weeks has been unprecedented.

"We ask the public to help us by thinking carefully before calling for an ambulance. Lots of people who dial 999 simply need to see a pharmacist of GP."

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