Ambulance service received over 1.3 million calls last year

WEST Midlands Ambulance Service responded to more than 1.3 million calls in 2019, newly-released figures show.

The figure is up by around 75,000 on the previous year, with the increase boosted by the service taking on the NHS 111 system in November.

The busiest month was December, when the emergency service received 129,991 calls.

Each call cost £4.75, up from £4.47 the year before.

This rises further to £22 in cases of ‘hear and treat’ and £177.54 in cases of ‘see and treat’.

The most expensive cases are categorised as ‘see and convey’, costing £218 in each incidence, according to the data.

A spokesman for the service said it had adapted well after taking over the NHS’S regional 111 service, except for Staffordshire.

The free, 24-hour system receives more than 20,000 calls every week.

The move is intended to better integrate NHS urgent and emergency care services, meaning fewer patients needing ambulances and A&E treatment as they receive care over the phone from a team including GPS, advanced community mental health practitioners, pharmacists, dental nurses and midwives.

More calls can also be diverted to GPS, urgent treatment centres and rapid response services operated in the community.

Full integration is expected to take place by the end of 2020, when the same staff will be able to transfer between the different services with greater ease.

The spokesman said: “The fact we have been able to keep up with the number of calls has been a great success story. We took over the 111 service on November 5, allowing us to integrate it with 999, making sure that whatever people’s complaint is, we can provide them with the right service.

“We have been the only ambulance service to exceed all national standards before and during the Covid-19 outbreak, during which our call numbers were huge. We have been able to deal with that and to continue a good level of service to patients.”