MADAM, Having seen the recent letters (Ross Gazette, October 13th and October 20th) promoting the idea of combining Ambulance, Fire and Police Service premises at Hildersley I write in broad support of the concept.

As the last chief executive for the former Hereford and Worcester Ambulance Service I would point out that the Trust promoted a similar idea at that time for premises throughout the two counties only to be met by allegations that the Trust was trying to close ambulance stations including Ross and elsewhere.

This could not have been further from the truth and some of those closest to the Trust were responsible for misleading public opinion.

In Ross the Trust had explored, with the support of the Primary Care Trust, a number of options including co-location on the Community Hospital site, with St John and with other emergency services. Separate proposals were being considered in other localities in accordance with the differing circumstances within each community.

The Trust was keen to pursue a policy of combining its operations to reduce costs, improve efficiency and enhance already close working relationships wherever it made operational sense and did not impact adversely on services.

Indeed the Chief Officers of the emergency services in Herefordshire and Worcestershire had publically signed a Concordat in February 2006 committing them to seeking "every possible opportunity" for working together for the benefit of those served by their respective organisations.

The current economic climate brings such aspirations into sharp relief. Resources are limited and we have to design public services that are increasingly efficient and affordable.

Whilst each of the emergency services performs a completely different function they converge at times. The majority of what they do is not dependant or linked to the other. That said there are elements of what they do that could be shared without detriment or negative impact to front line services.

The achievement of this requires a mature debate about a more holistic approach to the configuration of public services that focuses on the needs of communities rather than organisational and geographical boundaries. I would encourage a solution that recognises that the base is not the primary determinant of response times and that our emergency services are best placed to identify the allocation of resources to ensure an equitable service across communities. Any such proposals would be subject to detailed scrutiny and should place equal value on voluntary and charitable services where it makes sense.

Those who manage the emergency services face considerable pressures and challenges juggling limited resources across rural and urban areas. Those on the front line deserve our support for the incredible work they do whilst at the same time having to change and adapt to new ways of working as part of an evolution of public services. To quote the Greek Philosopher Heraclitus "there is nothing permanent except change."

I would urge those who lead our public services to be bold in taking this debate forward in line with their approach to being at the forefront of innovation in Herefordshire.

Russell B Hamilton, Bridstow