Military personnel to help South Western Ambulance Service

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Military personnel are being deployed to help an ambulance service under increased pressure, bosses have said.

The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust (SWASFT) said the "small number" of military personnel would help "alleviate pressures on services".

It added using such staffing was part of "tried and tested methods" as it faced increasing demand.

The trust asked anyone worried about their health in a non-emergency to use the 111 online service.

The use of military personnel comes after the trust declared a "critical incident" due to "extreme pressures" in May.

It then recorded its busiest day, with staff responding to 3,522 cases in total - averaging two per minute either in person or via the phone - on Sunday 18 July.

The trust's assistant director of operations, Wayne Darch, said: "With the NHS in the South West facing increasing demand, we are using tried and tested methods to alleviate pressures on services so everyone will continue to get the care they need.

"This includes a small number of military personnel to help us get more of our vehicles back on the road, getting people the urgent care and treatment they need sooner."

It comes after another English ambulance trust, the South East Coast Ambulance Service, said the Army was to provide drivers for its vehicles in January.

The SWASFT covers the Bristol and former Avon area, as well as Somerset, Wiltshire, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

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The military is being drafted in to help ease extreme pressure on South Western Ambulance Service.

The Trust says a small number of personnel are being used to get more vehicles back on the road.

Bosses say that will allow them to get patients the urgent care and treatment they need sooner.

News of the extra support has been revealed just weeks after the trust declared a 'critical incident'.