ALTON'S ambulance station could face closure as part of a five-year plan by the Hampshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust to cut costs and streamline services.

Faced with a £1million deficit for the end of this financial year, the trust is now seeking to implement a strategic development plan which could result in the closure of up to 19 stations across the county, with resources concentrated on just four main depots.

The "super stations" would be located in large urban areas such as Basingstoke, Portsmouth and Southampton - a move which union representatives fear would further reduce the service provided for those living in rural areas.

The trust has weathered a number of performance issues over the past few years and is currently facing a critical funding situation with a projected £5.8m shortfall for the end of this financial year, reduced to £1m by the freezing of non-essential posts.

With a new management team in place, the aim is to turn the zero-star rated service around to meet its vision as the best, rather than the worst, ambulance service in the country.

According to the strategic development plan, one of the key issues facing the trust is "the financial and operational challenge in maintaining a large estate which contains many poor quality assets and facilities which do not assist front line staff in maximising their clinical times".

An estates strategy is to be drawn up based on "a comprehensive assessment of existing estates costs, efficiency and suitability (functional and geographical) against the needs and demands placed on the trust under its new service delivery model".

As such, "a range of options including sale or transfer of existing estates will be considered in detail".

But, the trust's chief executive, Claire Severgnini, has assured there are "no current plans to close down or sell off any of its ambulance stations".

In a statement this week, Mrs Severgnini explained: "Over the next few years steps will be taken to ensure the trust reaches a position where it will be running an estate as efficiently as possible from the most appropriate locations across Hampshire."

But, she stressed: "Paramount at all times is our ability to reach patients quickly and safely, and the trust would not consider making estates changes that would be detrimental to the public in any way."

She continued: "The objective of the estates strategy is to improve the quality of our facilities, the financial commitment to estate-related overheads and to effectively co-ordinate our resources to ensure they are used in the most effective way. 

"To do this, the trust is starting to look at patient-related information to see what type of demands and where the demands occur for our service across the county."

She concluded: "This is the beginning of a long journey that will take a huge amount of data collection, engagement with our staff, colleagues, stakeholders and the public to make sure everyone is fully aware of the options available to the trust."

While it appears that a report commissioned by the previous trust board, almost five years ago, recommended the construction of three to four large "super stations", supplemented by good quality smaller stations, the "hub and spoke model" is not necessarily the one the new board will go for.

"Although we do not dismiss the information supplied in that report, the trust wants to ensure that an estates strategy is put in place which reflects today's requirements and can support the trust long term," said Mrs Severgnini.

The chief executive is also quoted as saying that the gut feeling of the trust board is that 19 will be too many stations to close and that nine or six might do, but that will depend on the outcome of current investigations - and Alton will certainly be part of that review.

The chairman of the Joint Shop Stewards' Committee, Jim Barnett, said he would be fiercely opposed to any station closing because of its impact on the community as a whole.

Fearful of the pressure it would put on staff having to travel to distant "super stations", the Alton-based paramedic warned that the closure of local stations could lead to longer waits in rural areas and that would be "unacceptable".