AMBULANCE workers are heading to Parliament today to ask MPs to stop the closure of Bedford emergency call centre.

The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (EEAST) told staff in September that it was going to shut the site and divert calls to its two remaining emergency operations centres in Chelmsford and Norwich.

This was said to be due to the poor state of the building, but the trust took a step back after staff backed a Unison petition warning that the decision would mean dozens of highly trained staff would lose their jobs and that the remaining centres were already stretched.

EEAST called in plans for immediate closure and promised to properly consult staff on the future of the Bedford centre and consider whether or not to move to a two-centre model, said the union.

But the threat of closure still hangs over Bedford and staff and Unison eastern regional organiser Lucas Bertholdi-Saad said: “No-one would deny that the site hosting the Bedford centre needs work to bring it up to scratch, but to move out and dump staff with more than a millennium of collective experience just doesn’t make sense.

“Bedford MP Mohammad Yasin has already been vocal in supporting these skilled call-handlers and dispatchers, but it’s vital more parliamentarians put pressure on EEAST to keep these highly trained workers in the trust.

“Shutting Bedford’s centre and losing these skilled staff would have ramifications across the region.”

EEAST chief executive Neill Moloney said: “We are engaging widely with staff and stakeholders prior to any decision.

“If any significant changes are proposed, then this will be subject to a period of consultation so that everyone can have their say.”