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from the point of view of economy in public expenditure, of meticulous care and restraint
in the ordering of ambulance transport, some expansion of the Council's directly
provided resources will be necessary. Among these resources, radio telephony may
play an increasing part, judging by the experience gained from its experimental use on
a restricted scale over the past two years.
During recent years there has been a great increase in the transport of patients by
rail to and from out-county areas and a sample analysis made in 1957 indicates that about
24,000 patients are being taken by ambulance to or from the 11 main London railway
termini in the course of a year. The number of patients for whom railway fares were
paid by the Council was 1,762, compared with 2,928 in 1956.
Agcncy and
supplementary
services
The Ambulance Department of the Joint Committee of the Order of St. John of
Jerusalem and the British Red Cross Society and the County of London Hospital Car
Service continued to render invaluable assistance in relieving the directly provided
service of a large volume of work. The Council's thanks are again due to the Director
and the County Organiser respectively.
The Ambulance Department of the Joint Committee is mainly concerned in undertaking,
on behalf of the Council, the transport of patients by road to out-county areas
and the Hospital Car Service in conveying ambulant patients to and from Hospital
out-patient departments and clinics. A summary of the work carried out by these
Services during 1957 will be found in table (i), from which it will be noted that,
although there was a reduction in the number of patients carried by the Hospital Car
Service compared with the previous year, the combined total of patients dealt with by
the two Services was 137,118 which represents 12 per cent. of the patients conveyed
by the ambulance service as a whole.
On 1 October, 1957, a scheme was put into operation to integrate the Hospital Car
Service more closely with the directly provided service by arranging for all requests
for transport to be made in the first instance through the Council's own control
organisation. Thus it was anticipated that the combined resources of the two Services
would be used with greater efficiency and less duplication of effort as a result of the
greater scope for the combination and co-ordination of journeys. During the first three
months' operation of the revised scheme the number of patients conveyed by the
Hospital Car Service showed a reduction of 5,104 (17 per cent.) compared with the
corresponding period of the previous year whilst the number of patients transported by
the general section of the Service during the same period showed a proportionate
increase. This is a measure of the initial effect of this scheme.
The arrangements in North Woolwich whereby the West Ham Borough Council
undertakes to provide on behalf of the Council, ambulance services in those parts of the
Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich which lie North of the Thames continued during
1957 and details of the work done appear in table (i).
Vehicles
Trials continued throughout the year of the new type 'plastic' ambulance
(described in the 1956 report) as a projected replacement vehicle for ambulances which
will be going out of service during the next few years.
The operational vehicle strength at the end of 1957 was as follows:
Large ambulances
Single-stretcher, sitting-case ambulances
Sitting-case cars
Ambulance buses
Tenders
227
61
38
8
2
336
Premises
A continuation of financial restrictions necessitated the further postponement of
major schemes for re-building or improving the Oval, Poplar and South Eastern
Ambulance Stations. Details of other works undertaken are given in the section dealing
with health service premises at page 45.
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