Written question asked by Iris Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party) on Tuesday, 1 November 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 3 November 2005. It was answered by Shaun Woodward (Labour) on Wednesday, 9 November 2005 on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office.

Ambulance Service

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what equality impact assessment was conducted in relation to closure of ambulance control centres at (a) Altnagelvin, (b) Antrim and (c) Craigavon.

Answer: Proposals for the reconfiguration of ambulance control were originally made in the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety's response to the 2000 Strategic Review of Ambulance Services. The Strategic Review Implementation Plan outlined proposals to move from four control centres to two and this document was subject to public consultation. At the same time an Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) was published to inform this policy development. The departmental response to consultation, which included replies to points raised by the EQIA questionnaire, was published in May 2002.The business case for the reconfiguration of control fully considered the new TSN implications of the move to two control centres.Altnagelvin Control will remain open, dealing with non-emergency calls and providing a back-up to the emergency control, which will be centralised at Knockbracken.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 24910; 439 c580W;439 c580W
Session: 2005-06
Subjects: Closures Ambulance services Northern Ireland Antrim Craigavon Altnagelvin
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk