AMBULANCE chiefs are still working out the correct staffing levels for a non-urgent transport service.

North West Ambulance Service reported several problems with its Patient Transport Service in the spring, with many patients left waiting more than five minutes for calls to be answered. Recent board papers said: “After the difficulties experienced within the PTS contact centre at the start of the new contract, the PTS management team bolster(ed) staffing levels and improved performance via agency staff and monitoring of the call length....however within June we suffered a significant loss of our agency staff which took time to replace. Work is on-going to ascertain the correct level of staffing required going forward.”