Up
until 1948 the Ambulance Service was, to all intents
and purposes, a rather fragmented affair run by a variety
of organisations, i.e. Local Councils, St Johns, The
Red Cross, the Fire Brigade, and sundry others. With
the advent of the National Health Service, the responsibility for
supplying an Ambulance Service was given to the County Councils.
This did not mean, however, the end of other organisations,
if they could prove they were efficient and cost effective they
were allowed to continue on an agency basis.
Copied
from the very first operational instruction :-
"The duties of the Surrey County Council,
in connection with ambulance transport arrangements under the National
Health Service Act 1946, to be carried out by the following Services:
The County Health Department direct Ambulance
Service
The Surrey Fire Brigade Emergency Service
Voluntary Organisations Ambulance Services:
(St John Ambulance Brigade and the British
Red Cross Society )
The Hospital Car Service.”
In those days the County of Surrey looked very different
to that we know today as this was prior to the advent of Greater
London - the only exception was the County Borough of Croydon.
On July 5th 1948 the Surrey Ambulance Service came
into being as a complete County Service, and although the voluntary
organistions continued to operate as agencies , they were now
answerable to the Surrey County Council.
Mr
T G Mullens was appointed Chief Ambulance Officer with
his Deputy Mr A L Roberts. They answered to the County Medical Officer
Dr. K. A. Soutar.
Together Mr Mullens and Mr Roberts were to
steer the new service through its formative years..
It was not going to prove easy as the Ambulance
Service at the time was under funded and undermanned, with a poor
means of communication, both between the various organisations
and also the general public.
One of the Chief Ambulance
Officer’s first jobs was to get them all integrated as a working
unit. A simple communication system was devised, to keep all
personnel informed of what was required of them, and what their
entitlements would be. Typewritten instructions were sent
to all stations, either as Station Orders, sent to the direct service
for domestic and administrative purposes, or Operational Instructions
sent to all stations covering operational matters affecting policy
etc. Between them they covered every aspect of the day
to day work, from road closures, pay rates, equipment on vehicles,
to how patients should be handled and transported. If
anybody had a problem work wise, the answer could normally be found
in one or the other.
At the outset there were 48 stations,
16 only part time. A lot of the stations were in a poor
condition, and very few purpose built, or in the right location.
An account by a member of staff at the time: "At
the start of the new service, the main station and control for N.W.
Surrey was a wooden hut, in the grounds of The S.C.C. County Welfare,
Heathside Road, Woking. There was no water, only one
three pin electric plug a 6 inch square Baby Belling boiling
ring, and one telephone with a wooden box switchboard".
However, change is never easy, although
plans for the Chertsey area had been published in the local press,
there was still an outcry when the Chertsey ambulance was moved
to Egham, even though this was only to be a temporary measure. This
was the kind of problem encountered countywide, as stations
were renewed, or relocated, to give better cover. Naturally
this was to be expected, and would gradually be overcome.
Another big problem, a lot of the stations were either
St John or Red Cross, and staffed mainly by volunteers, which
tended to make them rather autocratic. A lot of the
full time staff resented these voluntary organisations, but
it was decided to stick to the spirit of the act, (a wise one as
it turned out), and use them all the time they were
efficient and cost effective. For administrative purposes,
it was decided to divide the county into four divisions. Each
division had a main station and several sub-stations,
depending on the area that they served. (see page 18). The
location of these stations was predetermined, as the service
had to use what was available at the time. Four Superintendents,
one for each division, were appointed. Superintendents were
given a free hand to run their division, but within certain guidelines.
As a result each division ran slightly different, D Division
being the most diverse, because for some strange reason
it ended up mainly with agency stations and only one Surrey
County Council Station. Below the rank of Superintendent,
came Supervisors who were responsible for the running of Sub-Stations.
Driver Attendants became the basic rank, and the Attendants,
(an inherited rank on the take over), were phased out, either by
retraining to Driver Attendant, or through natural process.
Apart from the aforementioned there were Clerk/Telephonists
to man the control rooms.
It was to be a uniformed
service, staff would be supplied with a uniform, consisting of a
navy blue jacket and trousers, black shoes, peaked cap, blue shirt
with a black tie, and an overcoat. On the jacket sleeves Surrey
Ambulance Service flashes, and a metal cap badge with the county
crest. The Clerk/Telephonists would wear civvies, as they
were to be non operational
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The
pay at that time for a Driver Attendant was 102 shillings
for a 48 hour week in the London area, and 94 shillings a week in
the rest of the county, staff would be expected to have a clean
driving licence, and hold a current first aid certificate. The
ambulances were mainly Bedford’s, with Lomas stretcher gear, and
were often only one-man operated, extra help had to be co-opted
as and when required, i.e. postman, policemen, anyone
in fact if the patient was a stretcher case and needed to be carried.
At the end of 1949 Surrey County Council agreed to make all
their ambulances two-man operated. Each ambulance was
kitted to the same standard, items such as first aid satchels to
be carried in the cab, first aid boxes in the rear; the contents
of each would be identical for all vehicles, this included blankets,
pillows and all other equipment, therefore irrespective of
what ambulance personnel were allocated its layout was the
same Daily maintenance and general cleaning, to the highest
possible standard, was expected of ambulance personnel, and station
officers would be held responsible to see this was carried out.
During the first 7 months 66 accidents occurred which involved damage
to ambulances, it was quickly realised driving standards would have
to be improved. It was proposed some drivers be
reclassified as attendants, or in extreme circumstances, be liable
for dismissal. It became very apparent during the first
12 months that there was an urgent need for a code of conduct.
A disciplinary code was, therefore, introduced, and to quote
from the relevant station order, "it ensures that all ambulance
personnel are made fully aware of the possible consequences
of acts of inefficiency, misconduct or in discipline, and
at the same time informs personnel of their rights".
The Hospital Car Service was also taken under
the umbrella, previously run on an ad hoc basis for the transportation
of walking patients. It was manned voluntarily, mainly
by retired people using their own cars for which they claimed a
mileage allowance. They provided a very valuable service,
especially in country areas where just one or two patients needed
transport.
They say, "the well laid plans
of mice and men often go astray" and so they did for
the Surrey Ambulance. What a bitter blow it must have been
when, having just got the service off the ground, Surrey County
Council proposed to operate a separate emergency service, run by
the Fire Service. There was much well publicised opposition
over many months from all quarters, i.e. Ambulance men and Firemen
together with their officers, and many local councils, but
all to no avail, as the Minister of Health, in April 1949, agreed
with the scheme and gave the go ahead. This was to be
a very gradual process, one or two stations at
a time, as and when new ambulances and extra Fireman became
available, sited at 22 of the County's Fire Stations. These
were to be at:-
Wimbledon
- Mitcham - Wallington - Sutton
Epsom
- Esher - Surbiton - Woking
Malden
- Kingston - Barnes - Richmond
Carshalton
- Banstead - Purley - Dorking
Sanderstead
- Leatherhead - Camberley
Egham
- Walton - Chertsey
Walton was the first station to be taken over by the Fire Service,
which was not a popular move with the personnel concerned, and even
the Firemen themselves were anti, as a quote from the press
at the time shows many members of the Fire Service :- "looked
upon the Ambulance Service as a compulsory and embarrassing
encumbrance".
Despite all these difficulties the service
began to settle down, and eventually improvements followed. Firstly
at the end of 1949 the four divisions were reorganised into five
districts (see page 19). You will notice this divided the
county up nicely, with A and B, in the north, C and D to the
east and west respectively, leaving E to take care of the
south. Another Superintendent was appointed for the extra
district, and stations were placed, as far as possible, within the
appropriate district. In addition ambulances, owned
by the County Council, but operated by certain Isolation Hospitals,
provided local infectious disease services. Surrey
right from the start put great emphasis on its major emergency
plans, and the new service was soon put to the test in July 1949
with a report of a train crash at Worcester Park. This
as it happened was a hoax, but within 5 minutes according
to the press reports, 10 fire appliances and a similar number of
ambulances were on the scene, a quote from the Evening News
at the time:- "The hoax was an act of criminal
stupidity, but it provided a striking demonstration with which
a big force could be mobilised". A lot of hard work, and thoughtful
planning went into those first 18 months of this new
service, which was to stand it in good stead over the years to come.
A line of communication had been laid down, the role and qualification
of personnel had been defined, a standard of patient care
was laid down, and the upkeep of the vehicles had been established.
Having got the framework in place and working,
this was no time to sit back on their laurels, it was
going to take both the officers and men a lot of time and patience
to bring the service up to a standard fit for the second half of
the 20th century. Little did the people
realise at the time, just keeping up with new practices and technology
, on top of their other commitments, was to be never ending.
 Consolidation
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