By Lee ScanlonA Westport family had to take their elderly relative to Buller Hospital on Tuesday night because a St John ambulance couldn't come for 90 minutes. St John could not send an ambulance from Granity, 28km from Westport, because it no longer has an ambulance based there. Team leader, planning and funding, Philip Wheble, responded: "Emergency ambulance services in Westport are provided by St John through a national agreement with the Ministry of Health. Responding to written questions from The News, St John district operations manager, Tasman, James McMeekin, said St John "unusually" couldn't provide a Westport ambulance Tuesday night because it had no volunteer crew available. "Therefore, as per St John procedures, we dispatched a nearby ambulance that was able to respond within the appropriate time."

Source: New Zealand Herald July 15, 2016 06:33 UTC