Ambulance delays cause 'severe harm' to record 6,000 patients a month

A record number of patients suffered “severe harm” from ambulance delays as the NHS crisis deepened in December, soaring by nearly 50 per cent in just one month. Almost 6,000 suffered permanent or long-term harm due to waits to hand over patients outside A&Es compared to just over 4,000 in November. A further 14,000 patients were likely to have suffered “moderate harm”, analysis of ambulance data by The Independent and estimates of harm by the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives found. The NHS winter crisis has been called “the worst ever” in emergency care and comes ahead of another strike by nurses and 10,000 ambulance staff on 6 February. A House of Lords report yesterday called on the government to initiate a Cobra committee for A&E and ambulance delays, saying patients are being put at “unacceptable risk”.