Commenting on the closure of Whittington First Responders, Michael Fabricant says:

“This is a local decision which I very much regret. A number of very different issues were raised by Frank Bartlett (Leader of Whittington First Responders) where, perhaps, the West Midlands Ambulance Service could have been far more helpful. I saw Frank a couple of months back at one of my surgeries and raised the issue of Enhanced Training with Tony Marsh, Chief Executive Officer of the West Midlands Ambulance Service.

“I will now be contacting him again as a matter of urgency and will want assurances that response times in Whittington will not be affected and how he intends to address the issues raised by Frank Bartlett which must be affecting other First Responder Units too.

“When the Staffordshire Ambulance Service was absorbed into the West Midlands service, I was told that response times and paramedic on-the-spot treatment would not be adversely affected. We all need an explanation about this unfortunate closure.”