The south east regional office of the NHS executive is recommending to health minister Hazel Blears that the proposals are given the go-ahead despite fierce opposition from nearly every major organisation involved.
While not officially informed of the regionÕs decision to run with the government-led initiative, local ambulance staff are among the objectors.
Despite talk of cost sharing, Alton leading hand Jim Barnett is of the firm opinion that Òbigger does not necessarily mean betterÓ.
ÒIt will simply mean that the problems will be much larger and that will result in larger salaries for mangers with no increased benefits to the public in terms of staff and ambulance cover,Ó he warned.
HampshireÕs NHS Ambulance Trust rejected the plans earlier this year believing that the proposals would not be Òin the interests of the local populationÓ.
In August the Hampshire serviceÕs board decided to oppose the plans believing that a merger would be Òdetrimental to both residents and staff who are currently achieving rapid improvements in meeting targets for new standards in response timesÓ.
North HampshireÕs Community Health Council, which acts as a patient watchdog, also opposed the ÒvisionÓ outlined in the consultation document Delivering a Modern Ambulance Service in the South East Region.
The document proposes to restructure every ambulance service in the South East and includes plans to pool the resources of both the Hampshire trust and Surrey and amalgamate them.
It and every other CHC in Hampshire and Surrey wrote a joint letter objecting to the plans.
Angry that public opinion is being ignored, Hampshire CHCs are now urging health minister Hazel Blears to reject the proposal saying that any decision to proceed with the reconfiguration would Òfly in the face of government statements that they are listening to patients and the publicÓ.
Despite such widespread disapproval, and despite the results of the public consultation, following a recent meeting between health authority chief executives and the regional director Ruth Carnell, the regional office still looks set to pursue the proposals.
In the document, Next Steps Following Consultation on a Proposed Restructuring of Ambulance Trusts, the responses to the public consultation are summarised.
It says: ÒMost of the responses supported the vision of more effective, modern ambulance services. However, few of the responses expressed unqualified support for the proposals.
ÒMost expressed the view that the case for the particular configuration of merged trusts was inconclusive and there was little consensus among responders on their reasons for overall lack of support.
ÒThis was perhaps because most responders were presenting a local perspective and local circumstances were different.Ó
Chairman of the Hampshire Ambulance Trust Sarah Murray told The Herald that the service was unhappy at the decision and it too is urging the minister to reject the changes or at least put them on hold.
She said: ÒI think that the whole of Hampshire Ambulance Service is very disappointed with the decision, despite the overwhelming rejection of the proposals for reorganisation which we do not feel will bring any proven benefit.Ó
Mrs Murray said that everyone within the ambulance service had been working hard to improve its response times and that within the last six months it had seen a significant improvement in meeting government set targets.
Referring to the health service as a whole, she added: ÒChanges always affect levels of service and we are very worried that response times will slip as we try to keep our eye on the ball.Ó
While changes to the ambulance service have been on the cards for more than three years, the service could have a very short period of time to implement them.
A ministerial decision is expected before Christmas and, if the plans are given the go ahead, it could mean a new-look service from April 2002.