East Lancashire ambulance stations in need of upgrades

10:00pm Monday 8th March 2010

By Peter Magill

AMBULANCE stations in Blackburn and Nelson have been labelled ‘overcrowded’ as part of an estates review by NHS bosses.

And more than £500,000 needs to be spent to bring East Lancashire’s 10 stations, run by the North West Ambulance Service, up to scratch.

The bill across the north west to upgrade stations could reach £5.4million over the next five years, according to NWAS.

Blackburn’s George Street West base, in Bank Top, and Nelson’s Rakeshouse Road facility alone need £138,000 spending on them to bring them up to scratch.

Burnley’s Dent Road station, off Trafalgar Street, which is used as a vehicle serving centre by NWAS, needs an investment of £50,800, and Darwen’s George Street base requires nearly £28,500.

Extra outlays totalling £20,040 and £17,390 will tackle faults at Altham and Barnoldswick’s stations, with smaller amounts needed for Clitheroe, Ramsbottom, Stacksteads and the Rossendale station in Rawtenstall.

A further £94,000 will also need to be spent on minor repairs during the lifetime of the current buildings, at the 10 locations, directors have been told in an NWAS board report.

Blackburn station and both the Accrington main base and training centre have failed energy efficiency tests.

And fire and health and safety measures at Altham, Barnoldswick, Burnley, Darwen, Nelson and Rossendale also need to be improved.

None of the stations in East Lancashire figured in the service’s 2009-2010 improvement programme and none have been named as beneficiaries of the 2010-11, which will see 15 sites share £1,500,000.

Consultants have also recommended to NWAS that they need to have contingency plans to ensure that existing provisions for uninterruptible power supplies work at all locations.

The service is also considering future options regarding the relocation of several stations, thought to the in ‘wrong’ location, as part of its estates strategy.

Neil Maher, assistant estates director, said: “The current NWAS estate is a mixture of buildings that has evolved over the past 150 years.

“The vast majority of the operational ambulance station stock is over 25-years-old.

"The stations are a mix of owned and leasehold premises in locations that were determined many years ago to meet the service needs of the second half of the 20th century.”