Oxfordshire's ambulance service is bucking national plans to cut the number of two-person paramedic crews on the streets.
South Central Ambulance NHS Trust - serving Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Berkshire - is investing almost £20m over the next 18 months to improve services and staffing levels.
It was reported yesterday that other trusts were splitting up crews in an effort to meet a new eight-minute response time target from next April. Paramedics say that 'solo-responders' or rapid response vehicles are not always appropriate and that the change could put patients' lives at risk.
South Central is taking on almost 300 extra staff to help it hit the targets.
It aims to have between 32 and 40 double-crewed ambulances in service, up from 26-37 now, with up to 16 rapid response vehicles. At present, four to six rapid response vehicles are usually available.
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