An Assembly debate was told yesterday that a controversial efficiency drive within health and social care will lead to more emergency cover in NI, not less.

NI Health Minister, Michael McGimpsey also emphasised that no Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) service jobs would be lost as a result of 'efficiencies'.

The Minister said: "Ambulance service provision is absolutely not being reduced. Unfortunately, people have been too quick to jump to conclusions rather than listen to the facts. This scaremongering is simply not helpful and only serves to undermine public confidence in the emergency services.

"In fact, paramedic response capacity - by which I mean the total Accident and Emergency (A&E) and Rapid Response Vehicles response - will be increased by 61,000 hours to over 600,000 hours of cover. In reality, there will be seven additional vehicles on the ground providing emergency care to those who need it most," he said.

The Minister added: "I am not cutting ambulance service funding, but rather I am committed to investing substantially in it. To this end, I announced on 1 October a major capital investment in the service totalling almost £100 million over the next 10 years.

"This includes £17m over the current Comprehensive Spending Review period for 60 new A&E ambulances, 60 new patient care vehicles and 26 rapid response vehicles.

"This will allow NIAS to modernise its service, respond more quickly to emergency calls, and help deliver life saving emergency care to those who need it.

"I am also investing an additional £12million revenue funding in the ambulance service which will increase its annual budget to £57million by 2010/11, an increase of 24% on last year."

The Minister has previously insisted again that savings won't mean cuts.

In July, he said that while there remained a need to make around £1.5m in savings, alleged 'cuts' to the NI Ambulance Service have been refuted.

Back just three months ago the Minister felt it necessary to address concerns and said: "Significant investment will enable the service to modernise, to respond more quickly to emergency calls and to help provide life-saving services to patients who need it."

He was responding to criticism from a trade unionist, Lily Kerr, from Unison. She said her union would not be approving the plans: "My organisation fought long and hard, both with the direct rule administration and the new devolved administration to get what we believed to be adequate ambulance cover.

"These plans actually cut right through that. It is all very well saying you're giving a Rapid Response Vehicle, we've been there done that, and unfortunately the Ambulance Service has not learnt the lesson."

See: Emergency Ambulance Service 'Cuts' Denied

(BMcC)