AMBULANCE staff fear £30m set to be slashed from their budget over the next five years will affect patient care.

South Central Ambulance Service, SCAS, which has its headquarters in Bicester, has been told it has to make £6m yearly ‘savings’ over the next five years.

The trust, which provides emergency services to Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, has launched an operational and clinical review with staff to discuss proposals over the next few weeks.

But unions have said they are ‘extremely concerned’ and have warned the cuts, set to start from this summer, will have an impact on patient care.

And a member of SCAS staff contacted the Oxford Mail anonymously to express their concern about the plans and the impact they would have on frontline services.

The member of staff, who corresponded with the Oxford Mail only as a ‘concerned employee’, said they had been told the proposals could have an impact on more than 200 staff.

They added: “The proposals made by the board of directors in their current form have generated very strong views from staff.

“They do not support them in their current form and it is felt by many that there may be an impact on patient care from a lack of clinical support for staff.”

Last night the trust, which last year had a budget of about £131m, refused to guarantee jobs were safe but said it was not intending to make anyone redundant.

A spokesman said: “South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust can confirm that we are required, along with other NHS trusts, to make savings.

“This will mean that we will be required to make savings of £6m per annum over the next five years.

“Plans for these efficiency savings are still being put together and will be released in the coming months.

“However, we would like to reassure people that currently it is not our intention to make anyone redundant.

“We are seeking the views of all staff affected in this review and their views will be taken on board accordingly.”

The three recognised trade unions for ambulance workers, APAP, Unite and Unison, also issued a statement outlining their concerns. It reads: “We are extremely concerned regarding the details published in the operational and clinical review consultation paper.”

It said the unions were worried about a lack of clinical support for staff and the possible impact on patient outcomes.

It added: “At present SCAS is the number one in clinical measures and we have concerns that this will not continue. We cannot see how cost savings can be made without redundancies.”

It said there were also concerns over lack of resilience for major incidents, problems with extra pressures over the winter, and a lack of clarity regarding policies that would be used in any reorganisation.

About 300 people work at the trust’s headquarters in Bicester.

But SCAS last night moved to reassure its staff and the public by pointing out it was among the top performing trusts in the country.

A spokesman said: “We need to continue to improve our services for our patients, and as such are continuing to recruit to our frontline services. We continue to look at ways to deliver services more efficiently so that we can protect our frontline services for patients.”