Ambulance service overhauled

Ambulance staff are to be consulted about the plans

Ambulance stations are to be sold and a new £19m call centre created for the service in Greater Manchester.

The county's ambulance service (GMAS) will be centralised at a new headquarters under the plans.

The building - at a site yet to be found - will house the paramedic emergency control, patient transport and the NHS Direct helpline.

The GMAS sites at Belle Vue, in Manchester, Ladybridge Hall, in Bolton, and the current headquarters at Whitefield will be closed and sold off.

Ambulances attached to the buildings will be replaced locally, and plans are being considered to build new stations in Partington, Eccles and Little Hulton.

John Burnside, chief executive of the Greater Manchester Ambulance Service, said: "We have new technology, new vehicles, new equipment and staff with new and extended skills.

"Our buildings however have not changed. Some of them are outdated and others, because of changes in demography are in inappropriate locations."

Staff are being consulted about the changes and the plans are to be submitted to the Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority.