Hospital pays for private crews

Malcolm Prior
BBC News, Southampton

Bosses at the hospital say they cannot make the one-off payment

A hospital is spending £100,000 a year on private ambulances for a specialist head injury unit when a one-off payment of £80,000 would buy its own vehicle.

Bosses at Southampton General Hospital say they do not have enough cash in their capital budget to pay for a dedicated ambulance.

Instead, they are using their day-to-day revenue budget to pay a private company for a vehicle and crew.

The news comes at a time when the hospital is more than £11m in debt.

If there's any delay at all in getting them into hospital that can be the difference between life and death Dr Andy Eynon

Dr Andy Eynon, director of the hospital's neurointensive care unit, told the BBC news website: "We are currently spending roughly £100,000 a year paying for a private ambulance service to repatriate patients out of the centre.

"The problem is that it is different budgets.

"Buying an ambulance is a capital cost and you have to be able to provide that money right upfront rather than piecemeal over the year to a private ambulance service."

It has now been left to local fundraisers to try to find the money needed to buy the unit its own ambulance.

Neil Westbrook, appeal co-ordinator for charity Smile4Rich, which was named after a young patient at the unit, said: "The problem is that NHS budgets are such that you cannot take money intended for vehicle hire and use it for the capital purchase of a vehicle.

The ambulances are used to return patients to their local hospital

"We are fundraising because we believe it is something that can make a difference.

"We believe this is a way in which the community can help the hospital to provide a more efficient and effective service and help them to save lives."

Ambulances are vital for the unit to get patients in and out of the ward as quickly as possible and free up spaces.

The unit serves three million people in an area covering Dorset, Hampshire, Sussex, parts of Wiltshire, the Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands.

Dr Eynon said government targets should mean the unit has 30 beds but underfunding has left it with just 13 - and of those only 10 are currently open.

That means bed-blocking is a major concern, with quick transfers essential.

'Life and death'

He said: "It is very frustrating as a clinician and just as frustrating for patients who would like to get back to their family and friends.

"If there's any delay at all in getting them into hospital that can be the difference between life and death."

Richard Samuel, of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Strategic Health Authority, said the trust needed to maximise the benefits of its income and assets for local people.

He said: "In this instance, the strategic health authority understands that the trust is working with a charity to identify opportunities to develop the transport support for the neurointensive care unit.

"However, it will remain the trust's responsibility to ensure that this important service continues to thrive."