Bungled NHS reform risks patients’ lives

LAST year, the Mail warned that a major overhaul of ambulance response times could put patients’ lives at risk.

Despite grave concerns, the NHS allowed targets to be watered down.

Under the controversial shake-up, only 8 per cent of 999 calls were classed as ‘lifethreatening’ – down from 50 per cent – meaning paramedics should arrive at an incident within eight minutes. The remainder must typically wait 18 minutes.

So it gives us no pleasure to report how severely the bungled change has endangered perilously ill patients.

Since new standards were introduced in July 2017, a shocking 157,000 people – including heart attack and stroke victims – have been forced to wait more than an hour before an ambulance reached them.

In one harrowing case, a patient endured an 18-hour delay because the 999 call was cancelled in error. Only when family intervened were paramedics dispatched.

It is difficult to imagine the fear gripping those people – often elderly or vulnerable – who must wait, minutes ticking by, with no sign of help. ‘Distressing’ barely covers it. What on Earth is going on? Yes, ambulance trusts are overstretched. In 2016-17, they took a record ten million calls – a number rising by 5 per cent a year.

The increase is driven by a growing and ageing population and the difficulty patients face getting hold of a GP.

There is also a chronic shortage of paramedics. And bed-blocking means ambulances must queue outside A&E departments unable to unload patients.

But irrespective of the problems, for those suffering strokes and heart attacks every second counts.

We are the first to applaud the thousands of superb and dedicated NHS staff. But they are too often let down by an organisation that can be inefficient, poorly planned and bureaucratic.

And while frontline workers bear the brunt, how depressing it must be that hundreds of their bosses pocket six-figure salaries.

With the NHS ten-year plan being drawn up to decide how the behemoth will spend huge budget increases, ending unacceptably long ambulance waits must be a priority.

Failure to do so can be a matter of life and death.