3 weeks ago
Ambulances are missing consequence clip targets for imaginable bosom and changeable victims successful each but 1 section authority successful England, damning figures reveal.
Paramedics should get astatine nan segment of these calls wrong 18 minutes but immoderate time-critical patients are being forced to hold for much than a day.
Windsor and Maidenhead was nan only 1 of 194 areas to meet nan target for alleged 'Category 2' calls past year, pinch an mean clip of conscionable complete 16 minutes.
Cornwall was nan worst-performing, pinch an mean hold of 1 hr and 9 minutes — almost 4 times longer than it should take.
This was followed by patients successful West Devon, who had an mean hold of conscionable complete an hour, and South Hams pinch an mean hold of 59 minutes.
The figures were obtained by nan Liberal Democrats, who sent Freedom of Information requests to each 10 ambulance trusts successful England.
The statement warned patients are being 'left to suffer unnecessarily' and tin nary longer beryllium assured an ambulance will get successful clip for a loved 1 successful their infinitesimal of need.
In 1 alarming case, a diligent successful Warrington waited 25 hours and 40 minutes for an ambulance to get aft a Category 2 call, 85 times longer than nan 18 infinitesimal target.
Other agelong waits included a hold of 25 hours and 27 minutes successful Staffordshire and Stoke connected Trent and 22 hours 52 minutes successful East Lancashire.
What do nan latest NHS capacity figures show?
The wide waiting database shrunk by 40,000 to 7.54million successful February.
There were 252 group waiting much than 2 years to commencement curen astatine nan extremity of February, down connected nan 376 successful January.
The number of group waiting much than a year to commencement infirmary curen was 305,050, down somewhat connected nan 321,394 successful nan erstwhile month.
Some 42,968 group had to wait much than 12 hours in A&E departments successful England successful March. The fig is down connected nan 44,417 logged successful February.
A full of 140,181 group waited astatine slightest 4 hours from nan determination to admit to admittance successful March, down from 139,458 successful February.
Just 74.2 per cent of patients were seen wrong 4 hours at A&Es past month. NHS standards group retired that 76 per cent should beryllium admitted, transferred aliases discharged wrong nan four-hour window.
In March, nan mean category 1 consequence time – calls from group pinch life-threatening illnesses aliases injuries – was 8 minutes and 20 seconds. The target clip is 7 minutes.
Ambulances took an mean of 33 minutes and 50 seconds to respond to category 2 calls, specified arsenic burns, epilepsy and strokes. This is much than doubly arsenic agelong arsenic nan 18 infinitesimal target.
Response times for category 3 calls – specified arsenic precocious stages of labour, non-severe burns and glucosuria – averaged 2 hours, 29 minutes and 48 seconds. Nine successful 10 ambulances are expected to get to these calls wrong 2 hours.
Furthermore, 173 of nan 194 areas grounded to meet nan 7 infinitesimal consequence clip target for life-threatening 'Category 1' calls, wherever a patient's bosom has stopped aliases they are not breathing.
Mid Devon and West Devon had nan worst mean consequence times for Category 1 calls, pinch some complete double nan 7 infinitesimal target.
Worryingly, 1 diligent successful Oldham waited 11 hours and 44 minutes for an ambulance to get for a Category 1 call.
Across nan 165 areas that provided afloat data, 9 retired 10 reported an summation successful mean ambulance consequence times for Category 2 calls since 2019.
Thirteen areas had seen nan mean consequence clip much than double complete this period, pinch nan starkest emergence of 141 per cent successful Plymouth.
There waits had risen from 24 minutes to 57 minutes.
Daisy Cooper, nan Liberal Democrat wellness and societal attraction spokesperson, said: 'Calling an ambulance erstwhile you aliases a loved 1 is successful a superior emergency is 1 of nan astir distressing moments of someone's life.
'The slightest group merit is to cognize that an ambulance will beryllium capable to scope them successful time. Sadly, excessively often that is not happening arsenic these devastating figures show.
'This Conservative authorities has overseen nan complete decimation of section NHS services.
'Under nan Conservative Party nan wellness work has faced unforgivable neglect and it is patients who are base nan brunt.
'We urgently request finance successful our ambulance services. For excessively agelong unit person not been fixed nan resources they request and patients person been near to suffer unnecessarily.'
Rory Deighton, head of nan NHS Confederation's acute network, blamed nan slow travel of patients done A&E for contributing to nan agelong waits, pinch ambulance crews incapable to promptly driblet disconnected patients and responds to caller calls.
He said location person been caller improvements and added: 'Health leaders cognize that ambulance services are nether a immense magnitude of pressure.
'Call handlers are receiving an expanding number of calls, including those that are life-threatening aliases an emergency, while ambulance teams and their colleagues successful emergency departments are collaborating to reside agelong handover delays astatine hospitals.
'Ambulance leaders cognize location is simply a agelong measurement to spell to deed nan consequence targets and are moving incredibly difficult to make judge nan improvements we are seeing are sustained agelong term.'
A Department of Health and Social Spokesperson said location person been 'major improvements' successful ambulance consequence times this year.
They added: 'We person committed an other £200 cardinal past year, alongside caller ambulances, to further grow capacity and amended consequence times, and nan Government is providing nan NHS pinch grounds backing of astir £165 cardinal a twelvemonth by nan extremity of this Parliament, alongside grounds numbers of doctors and nurses.'
