The Hastings-Quinte ambulance service is planning to cut the number of non-urgent calls it takes by 50% as its emergency calls increase.
Chief of Emergency Services Doug Socha told the Hastings-Quinte Emergency Services Committee on Wednesday that there has been a 40% increase in life-threatening calls in the past four years, and a 25% hike in non-urgent inter-facility calls.
Socha tells Quinte News, “Really what we’re trying to do is work with QHC to try and understand which patients need to go and those that don”t need to go right away. Are there other opportunities? Can they go by a non-urgent provider or is there an opportunity for us to ensure that we have emergency coverage immediately available so that we can provide coverage for the community, and do the (non-urgent) transfer after that.”
Socha says the idea is to work with the province and Quinte Health care to resolve the issue.
A plan is also in the works for a new ambulance base in Centre Hastings.
The committee approved both recommendations which now go to Hastings County council, with the idea of undertaking some steps in 2019.
The committee decided to leave three other recommendations regarding increased ambulance service hours, over the years 2021 to 2023, to the incoming new councils.