Ambulance Service continues to miss response targets
HEAD OF OPERATIONS APOLOGISES FOR THE LONGER WAITING TIMES
AMBULANCE waiting times continued to climb in October to potentially record-breaking levels in England.
East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS), which covers North and North East Lincolnshire as part of its geographical range, again missed out on target times for the average wait for Category 1, the most serious types of incidents. EMAS have apologised for the latest waiting times, but cited handover delays as a major issue.
It is asking patients who are requested by call handlers to make their own way to hospital to try to do so, to relieve pressure. In the latest data, published by NHS England, the average wait time for Category 1 incidents in October in the East Midlands was nine minutes and 38 seconds. Category 1 incidents cover life-threatening injuries and illnesses, including cardiac arrest.
Ambulance services have a target to arrive at such incidents within an average of seven minutes, and for 90 per cent of all incidents to be responded to within 13 minutes. For EMAS, 90 per cent of Category 1 patients were seen within 17 minutes and 32 seconds. The ambulance trust met both such targets in 2020-21.
October’s figures could be the worst ambulance waiting times in England across Categories 1-3 of incidents yet, since the categories were first recorded in 2017. London data is not yet available, but excluding London, the average response time for Category 1 incidents in England in October was nine minutes and 56 seconds.
Neil Scott, head of operations for Lincolnshire at East Midlands Ambulance Service said: “We are very sorry that due to a number of factors, patients in our communities are waiting longer than we would like for an ambulance response.
“Handover delays are not an ambulance and hospital only issue and concern; they are a symptom of wider pressures across the NHS and social care systems, and both are working together to address staffing pressures and wellbeing whilst identifying ways of improving patient flow to reduce the negative impact on patient safety and wellbeing.”
In August alone, EMAS estimated it lost 13,000 resource hours because crews were delayed handing over patients at hospitals. The ambulance trust’s board heard that same month that there were already 33 cases classed as Serious Incidents (SIs) already in 2022/23, where acts or omissions in care result in unexpected or avoidable death, or injury resulting in serious harm. This compared to 17 SIs at the same point the previous year and it was noted by the board that 70 per cent of SIs already recorded in 2022/23 involved delayed responses.
“Clinicians in our 999 control rooms continuously work hard to assess and reassess the condition of our patients who are waiting for an ambulance, to ensure people who need medical attention most urgently receive the first available ambulance,” continued Mr Scott.
“This means that patients experiencing less serious illnesses or injuries may experience an extended wait for an ambulance. Therefore, if you are asked by our 999-control room if you can make your own way to hospital, please do so – either via taxi or asking a friend or family member to drive you.”
EMAS also missed out on targets for Category 2 incidents, serious but not immediately life-threatening conditions, and Category 3, urgent but not immediately life-threatening condition, which requires treatment and transport to an acute setting. Nationally, the ambulance service aims to get to nine out of ten patients who are Category 2 within 40 minutes and within two hours for Category 3 incidents.
In October, EMAS got to nine out of ten of Category 2 patients within two hours and 45 minutes, and 90 per cent of Category 3 incidents were only responded to within 10 hours and 25 minutes.
October was a much busier month than September for the ambulance trust in dealing with the most serious callouts. There were 9,117 Category 1 incidents, an increase of 16 per cent on the previous month.