Ross ambulance station is on the market with offers invited in the region of £225,000.

The station is due to be replaced by a Community Ambulance Station at the town's fire station, next door to the current ambulance station.

This is the latest move in the Make Ready scheme which has already been adopted by Staffordshire Ambulance Service. This is now one of the most successful ambulance services with some of the fastest response times in England.

The Make Ready programme involves the creation of 24/7 fleet maintenance hubs, where a dedicated team of Ambulance Fleet Assistants prepare, service and maintain the fleet of ambulances.

Oncoming ambulance crews collect their made-ready vehicle and go to Community Ambulance Stations from where they respond to 999 calls.

The aim of the system is to cut down on ambulance crew 'downtime'; time when the crew is dealing with issues with their vehicle, such as cleaning their vehicle or restocking, time when they are not able to respond to medical emergencies.

'Make Ready' also significantly reduced waste with a reduction of out-of-date drugs and supplies. It also reduces spending on aged and expensive ambulance station buildings. The money saved is channelled into the frontline ambulance provision.

Hereford ambulance station in Romany Way off Ross Road, Hereford has been turned into the county's fleet maintenance 'hub' while the county's market towns are getting new Community Ambulance Stations.

A spokesman for the service said that the new community ambulance stations will be leased at a fraction of the costs (rates, utilities etc) associated with the currently owned buildings. The savings made on these buildings will be channelled into the frontline ambulance service instead.

The current level of ambulance cover in Herefordshire will be maintained, but the ambulance service provided will increase overall with the introduction of Community Paramedic schemes to Ledbury, Leominster, Bromyard, Ross and Kington.

Dedicated to their respective towns and immediate surrounding areas, Community Paramedics are paramedics with additional training in advanced patient assessments and procedures.

They will be able to treat many more patients at the scene rather than them being conveyed to an A&E department.

In addition to responding to 999 calls, the role of the Community Paramedics will be to liaise with other areas of health and social care and ensure the population they serve receive the best health service possible, while ensuring the ambulance service through 999 is used appropriately. Each town will have a team of five Community Paramedics to ensure 24/7 cover.

The 'Make Ready' system is expected to be fully in place in Herefordshire later this year.

Several concerned readers have contacted the Ross Gazette as they say they were not aware of a public consultation regarding the closure of the Ross Ambulance station.

The Gazette reported the changes to the service in June 2011. The paper understood that as this was not regarded as a cost cutting exercise there was no requirement for a public con