Horrifying truth about NHS's ailing ambulances: Up to one in four vehicles are broken and a third of call handler posts are vacant in parts of country, investigation reveals

More than 1 successful 4 ambulances are disconnected nan roadworthy owed to attraction aliases reliability issues successful immoderate areas, an investigation reveals. 

Crews pass patients are being forced to hold excessively agelong for emergency attraction arsenic trusts are struggling pinch a crippling shortage of unit and vehicles. 

Just 78 per cent of ambulances nationally are operational connected immoderate fixed time – falling to arsenic debased arsenic 72 per cent astatine South Central Ambulance Trust. 

Meanwhile 1 successful 10 telephone handler roles are vacant crossed nan UK, meaning nan nationalist look a hold requesting thief successful nan first place. 

In nan worst affected ambulance services, up to 39 per cent of 111 telephone handler posts and 29 per cent of 999 telephone handler posts are unfilled. 

The GMB national said nan figures, obtained nether Freedom of Information laws, show urgent action is required if nan NHS is to meet captious capacity targets. 

Paramedics should get astatine nan segment of 'category two' calls, including imaginable bosom onslaught and changeable victims, wrong 18 minutes. 

But nan mean successful March, nan latest period available, was 33 minutes 50 seconds, pinch 1 successful 10 waiting much than 1 hr 11 minutes. 

For life-threatening 'category one' calls, wherever a patient's bosom has stopped aliases they are not breathing, nan target is 7 minutes but nan mean was 8 minutes 20 seconds, pinch 1 successful 10 waiting astatine slightest 14 minutes 48 seconds – much than doubly arsenic agelong arsenic they should. 

Ambulance unit took an mean of 5 seconds to reply 999 calls successful March, but 1 successful 100 callers had to hold for 76 seconds aliases more. 

And callers to 111 faced an mean hold of 3 minutes 16 seconds, pinch 1 successful 10 abandoning their telephone earlier it was answered. 

Rachel Harrison, nationalist caput of nan GMB, said: 'These figures laic bare erstwhile again nan unspeakable authorities that our NHS is in. 

'With hundreds of vacant posts and vehicles retired of service, it's nary wonderment delays are truthful high. 

'Trusts can't enlistee aliases support nan unit they need, while workers show america precocious pressure, debased pay, proceeding harm and maltreatment are reasons unit are leaving early. 

'We request action connected shockingly debased salary rates and unacceptable moving conditions if services meet nan standards patients need. 

'These statistic besides item nan rank hypocrisy of nan Government's Minimum Service Levels authorities – trusts intelligibly can't negociate 80 per cent work levels connected a normal day.' 

A regular snapshot of information from 4 ambulance trusts successful England shows they had 1,333 ambulances successful their fleet but conscionable 1,034 (77.6 per cent) operational, meaning 299 were unavailable for diligent use. 

Others will person been sat extracurricular hospitals waiting to manus complete patients to doctors successful A&E, meaning they were besides incapable to respond to caller calls. 

Meanwhile, responses from 11 UK ambulance services shows nan NHS employs 7,914 telephone handlers and dispatch operators but has 772 vacancies for these posts. 

East of England Ambulance Service says it has a 29.2 per cent vacancy complaint for 999 telephone handlers, while South Central says it has 38.6 per cent of its 111 telephone hander jobs unfilled. 

Ambulance trusts person warned successful committee minutes that vacancies and fleet problems are holding backmost capacity and risking diligent safety. 

The South East Coast Ambulance Service said successful February: 'Targets for telephone answering are not being consistently achieved owed to recruitment challenges, precocious unit turnover and debased telephone performance. 

'This results successful risks to diligent safety, objective effectiveness, diligent experience, workfellow acquisition and Trust reputation.' 

The North East Ambulance Service warned successful November: 'Vehicle readiness and estates capacity could limit improvements successful consequence clip successful some short and mean term.'

And South East Coast Ambulance Service besides said successful February that a 4th of its dual-crewed ambulances were older than their planned lifespan and 'high vacancies wrong nan Vehicle Maintenance Technicians squad are impacting nan capacity we person to reside issues wrong our workshops.' 

In immoderate trusts nan presence of caller vehicles has been delayed aft Bolton-based ambulance manufacturer, VCS, went into management past year. 

South West Ambulance Trust said successful November that 'only 13 of nan 101 vehicles' had been delivered owed to nan business's nonaccomplishment and it warned it whitethorn person to constitute disconnected £2.5million successful beforehand payments. 

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'Latest information from nan NHS shows that 999 calls are being answered quicker – pinch nan mean hold being conscionable 5 seconds – and we person 50 percent much ambulance unit compared to 2010. 

'We are besides putting 800 caller ambulances connected nan road, pinch £200 cardinal invested past twelvemonth to summation services and trim consequence times.' 

An NHS England spokesperson said: 'Ambulance Trusts successful England are moving difficult astatine retaining existing and attracting caller talent, while nan NHS Long Term Workforce reaffirms our committedness to amended staff's moving experience. 

'NHS Ambulance Trusts besides return nan information of their ambulances very earnestly and person a regular programme of servicing and maintenance.'