Ambulance staff are being boosted in Leeds and Bradford at the same time as cuts are being made in Honley, it has been revealed.
A senior Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) official has said the service is making a £10m investment, recruiting 252 medics and buying 110 new ambulances.
But he confirmed there would be slight cuts to staffing levels in Kirklees from 70 to 67.
Honley station faces losing four staff but Dewsbury will gain one. There are no changes planned at Huddersfield.
Paul Mudd, locality director for West Yorkshire, said the plan would stop Kirklees’ crews being pulled out of the borough to help out on jobs in other parts of Yorkshire.
He said: “Our aim is to get resources to the areas where we know we will get work.
“That doesn’t mean to say we’re neglecting rural areas. We’re attempting to stop vacuum effect.
“We’re putting extra vehicles in Leeds and Bradford so the Huddersfield and Honley ones don’t have to go there.”
While the service is boosting the amount of ambulances it is slashing the numbers of Rapid Response Vehicles (RRV), potentially at the expense of hitting the controversial eight-minute 999 call target.
He added: “If we put all our staff in RRVs we would hit the eight minute target no problem, but none of the patients would be able to go to hospital.”
