AMBULANCE workers fear improvements in response times could be undermined by the latest NHS upheaval.

They say the prospect of groups of GPs being handed the running of ambulance trusts will result in a loss of expertise.

Figures for March 2010 show that Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) has improved, reaching 70.8% of the most serious cases within its eight minute target.

A Kirklees Council scrutiny panel is currently quizzing YAS chiefs in a bid to get to the bottom of a perceived under-performance which saw it missing earlier targets.

Delegates at the GMB ambulance workers conference in Birmingham yesterday warned that the proposals for NHS reorganisation in England, set out in the White Paper, Liberating the NHS, could result in a drop in resources.

They fear that GPs do not have the awareness of ambulance response skills to maintain the current standards.

Jon Smith, the union’s Yorkshire organiser, said there were fears that it would become more and more difficult to meet response times.

“Our members working for the Yorkshire Ambulance Service say it is a struggle to meet the existing times and if the White Paper further dilutes the service it will become even more of a problem.

“It has been known to be a problem in rural areas around Huddersfield for some time and our fear is it will get worse”.

Justin Bowden, GMB national co-ordinator believes the white paper was a “gamble”.

He said: “With the greatest respect to GP practices they neither have the time nor the expertise to replace the NHS Ambulance management structures that have been built up over time – unless of course the real agenda is to dismantle the NHS ambulance service and replace it with private providers.”

He added that although targets were not always popular, changes to them would create massive disruption, saying: “We all need to remember that the eight minute target has been credited with saving the lives of almost 20,000 heart attack victims since it was introduced in 2001.

“These threatened changes in response times targets come on top of the total gamble contained in the proposals in the White Paper to turn on its head the management of the NHS in England.

“Meddling politicians need to realise the ambulance service is about saving lives.”

Simon Worthington, acting chief executive of Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said: “Yorkshire Ambulance Service is getting to more patients more quickly than ever before.

“Targets have played a key role in improving standards in ambulance services, but we know that the next stage is to build on improved response times and measure performance more against patient outcomes.”