BOSSES at East Midlands Ambulance Service have set aside £2 million to help them prepare for an increase in calls and treacherous conditions this winter.

Last year, cold weather and a rise in the number of call-outs during the Christmas period put extra pressure on paramedics and affected the time it took to respond to 999 calls.

It also meant the trust had to spend £400,000 on additional staff, vehicle hire and attending extra emergency calls.

But this year the service's acting chief executive said the organisation had accounted for the winter period in its budget.

Among plans to help it cope with any ice and snow are extra 4x4s and new tyres fitted to every front-line ambulance – which improve their speed and grip on the roads.

Paramedics and police will also operate out of "triage" tents in Derby city centre at various times in the run-up to Christmas.

Two vehicles in Derbyshire will be occupied by both ambulance and police officers for added safety.

David Farrelly, who is expected to remain acting chief executive until January, said: "There is usually a drop in performance in winter and we need to look at what this will mean for us and what we can do about it.

"This is about taking more control and ensuring we can put resources where they are needed.

"We've also had some useful meetings with other health trusts and it's been nice because they see us as part of the solution. We want to get on top of things this year and we're hoping it won't be too bad."

All ambulance trusts in the country are set the target of getting to 75% of life-threatening and emergency calls within eight minutes.

In March, it was revealed the East Midlands service was facing a £5 million fine for failing to reach patients quickly enough – with its performance hindered by the cold weather. It was announced the following month the money would be re-invested back into the organisation.

Since May, the service has reached more than 75% of calls in the required target time each month apart from August, where it hit 74.4%.

Simon Harris, assistant director of operations for Derbyshire, said: "We've not really allocated part of the budget like this before – where all the money is linked directly to dealing with the winter pressures.

"We always have to deal with more calls at this time of year – with the weather causing more incidents and accidents – and it can be harder to reach them, particularly in the more remote areas.

"But our performance has been good in the past few months and we've learnt a lot since last year."