SOUTH CENTRAL AMBULANCE SERVICE (SCAS) ranked as the second best ambulance service for response times to calls where those affected were conscious and breathing last year, despite being understaffed by as many as three hundred people.

The service also came third for reacting to incidents where those affected are unconscious and not breathing – also known as ‘category 1’ calls – from nine other ambulance services.

This success came in spite of SCAS currently having 1,100 employees rather than the 1,400 it needs.

Kirsten Williams, a representative from SCAS, said the service had experienced poor staff turnover because paramedics were “going to work in primary care” at GP practices.

She added: “A paramedic can leave us to get more money to do more sociable hours.”

The gap is filled by hiring private sector paramedics, who are cheaper to hire for SCAS than employing new paramedics because they do not have to contribute to sick pay or pensions.

Labour councillor Andy Croy told the News he was worried that this would lead to greater privatisation of the ambulance service, and said that the huge staff deficit was “extraordinary”.

Representatives also told Wokingham councillors the SCAS staff sickness rate was the highest in the country at 7 per cent, with most absences coming due to stress or musculoskeletal injuries.

Kirsten Williams said: “We are exposed to meeting patients.

“Stress in the ambulance sector is quite high, and we have a number of staff who suffer from PTSD (having come from military backgrounds).

“We can’t continue at 7 per cent going through the winter.”

Mark Ainsworth, also representing SCAS, said staff are “extremely well supported” as paramedics have access to trauma management therapy three to seven days after a traumatic incident occurs.

Liberal Democrats councillor Clive Jones asked the SCAS team what measures they are taking to prepare for more house building and a greater demand in the coming years.

Kirsten Williams replied: “When we see that volume of infrastructure going up we have meetings with local providers about what we are going to do.”

Ms Williams also told councillors demand had already increased due to a rise in the number of calls from elderly and frail patients who had hurt themselves and from patients suffering from poor mental health.

The SCAS representatives gave Wokingham Borough Council councillors an update on its practices at a meeting of the health overview and scrutiny committee meeting on Monday, November 19.