Every single ambulance trust in England missed crucial waiting time targets last month, leaving critically ill patients facing record waits for care, figures published by NHSEngland reveal.
Ambulance waiting times for Category 1 incidents, the most serious of call outs for life threatening conditions like heart attacks, were the highest in October since current records began in 2017 with patients waiting nine minutes 56 seconds on average for an ambulance – almost three minutes longer than the seven minute target. Last month paramedics responded to almost 84,000 category 1 incidents, 21% more than in September and the highest figure since July.
Ambulance waiting times are measured differently across the rest of the UK but similarly long waits are being seen across other nations, highlighting some of the strain the UK’s health services are under.
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In Scotland, critically ill patients classed under the ‘purple’ incident type waited seven minutes 34 seconds on average in the week commencing 10 October, according to data published by Scottish Ambulance Service. This was not within the target of six minutes. Like England, the picture across Scottish health boards varies dramatically and in Ayrshire and Arran it took ambulances 11 minutes 30 seconds to respond to ‘purple’ incidents, more than twice as long as in Dumfries and Galloway where paramedics were with patients in four minutes 55 seconds.
In Wales, ‘red’ call targets of eight minutes were hit by ambulance crews in September, however, there is also variation across health boards with patients in Hywel Dda waiting on average 10 minutes 25 seconds in comparison to six minutes 52 seconds in Aneurin Bevan. Data is unavailable for Northern Ireland.
How long did it take for paramedics to reach critically ill patients in your region last month? Here we reveal how every ambulance service in England performed in October for Category 1 incidents Response times for the London Ambulance Service are unavailable so have not been included.
1. East of England Ambulance Service
East of England Ambulance Service responded to 9638 life threatening incidents in October. The average wait was 11 minutes 12 seconds - four minutes 12 seconds longer than target.
2. South Western Ambulance Service
South Western Ambulance Service responded to 10663 life threatening incidents in October. The average wait was 11 minutes 11 seconds - four minutes 11 seconds longer than target.
3. Yorkshire Ambulance Service
Yorkshire Ambulance Service responded to 8660 life threatening incidents in October. The average wait was 10 minutes 35 seconds - three minutes 35 seconds longer than target.
4. Isle of Wight Ambulance Service
Isle of Wight Ambulance Service responded to 119 life threatening incidents in October. The average wait was 10 minutes 13 seconds - three minutes 13 seconds longer than target.