Referred to as Òa post code lotteryÓ, this area of North East Hampshire is said to fall into a Òbig holeÓ where ambulance response times are unlikely to be met because vehicles and crews are required to cover more densely populated areas.
While accepting that the service has improved over the past few months, with levels of staffing, vehicles and response times on the up, Alton ambulance man and chairman of Joint Shop Stewards for Hampshire Ambulance Service Trust, Jim Barnett, fears for the well-being of his own local community.
According to Mr Barnett, as things stand at present, the needs of the people of Alton and Bordon are being sacrificed to ensure Hampshire Ambulance Service meets the governmentÕs target of responding to 75 per cent of life-threatening calls within eight minutes.
To do this, crews from rural areas are called on to support those covering areas such as Basingstoke, Southampton, Winchester, Portsmouth and the M3.
Mr Barnett says that local ambulance staff have been campaigning for the past 25 years to have a station built at Bordon. Instead the day vehicle from Alton spends much of its eight-hour shift standing-by at Chase Hospital but that, suggests the local man, is nothing but a PR exercise, aimed at appeasing local fears.
It means also that if the 24-hour emergency vehicle gets called away from Alton there is no local coverage.
The other unit based at AltonÕs Albert Road station is a Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV), but this too is regarded as a means of speeding up response times, Òto make the statistics look better than they areÓ and to fill the gaps.
Referred to as a Òstop clockerÓ, the RRV aims to arrive on the scene within the allotted time. The paramedic or technician manning the unit then works on the patient until a two-man vehicle arrives to take over.
ÒThat may not be for another five to 25 minutes which means the patient is not in fact getting to the hospital any quicker,Ó explained Jim Barnett who remains unconvinced that this is the answer to good service provision.
Until recently the Alton station has been grossly understaffed, with just 7.4 people keeping the emergency vehicle on the road. Now up to strength, the station has 14 people who crew the 24-hour emergency vehicle and the eight-hour day ambulance, with relief crews manning the RRV, as and when they are able.
It is still far from satisfactory. Because Hampshire operates a Òfilter down systemÓ with vehicles being pulled away from home to go on stand-by in high priority Ôhot spotsÕ, the Alton and Bordon area is often without cover. Furthermore, Mr Barnett points out that, even at night on a clear road, Òan ambulance cannot get from Alton to Bordon in eight minutesÓ.
By implication, he fears, that ÒIf you live in the city you stand more of a chance of surviving than if you live in a rural area.Ó
Mr Barnett would like to see at least one eight or 16-hour ambulance based at Bordon, with two 24-hour emergency vehicles at Alton, to cope with an increasing population.
He further believes that this monthÕs call-out record for Alton alone shows the difficulties faced by ambulance crews anxious about the level of service offered to their own communities.
Taken from January 1 to 22 it shows the 24-hour emergency vehicle attending 22 jobs at Basingstoke, four at Petersfield, two at Hartley Wintney, three at Hook, three on the M3, five at Winchester and two at Havant. These include stand-by periods.
His question is this: ÒWhile we are away, who is covering the areas we have left unattended?Ó