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Ambulance Delay Hotspots Revealed Across England
Data analysis has pinpointed the regions in England facing the most critical ambulance delays, according to a comprehensive report. The statistics highlight considerable disparities in NHS response times throughout the nation, with patients experiencing suspected heart attacks and strokes in the South West enduring significantly longer waits compared to the national average.
Regional Disparities in Emergency Response Times
Analysis of recent NHS data indicates that in March, one in ten patients waited over one hour and sixteen minutes for paramedics to reach them during cardiac emergencies. Nationally, the average response time was 28 minutes and 34 seconds, which is within the health service’s 30-minute target.
Ambulance services in the South West also exhibited slower response times for the most critical, life-threatening emergency calls, such as cases of cardiac arrest, compared to other regions.
Category One Call Response Times
For ‘category one’ calls, defined as the most life-threatening emergencies, patients in the South West waited an average of 9 minutes. This exceeds the national target of 7 minutes. Factors cited for the South West’s slower response times include a larger elderly population spread across remote areas, as well as staff recruitment challenges and illness, as previously acknowledged by NHS England.
National Improvement in Ambulance Response Times
Monthly figures show that ambulance response times across England have improved compared to both the previous month and the same period last year.
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Category One Performance Overview
Nationally, the average response time for category one ambulance calls was 7 minutes and 52 seconds, marking the quickest time since May 2021. This improvement occurred despite the ambulance service handling the busiest March ever recorded, with 772,322 incidents compared to 765,396 in March 2021.
Regional Category One Response Time Breakdown
Following the South West, the East Midlands and East of England recorded the next longest average response times for category one calls, at 8 minutes and 37 seconds and 8 minutes and 19 seconds respectively. In the South West, one in ten patients waited 16 minutes and 51 seconds for category one responses. For the same category, one in ten patients waited 14 minutes and 57 seconds in the East Midlands and 15 minutes and 18 seconds in the East of England.
In contrast, the North East of England demonstrated the swiftest category one response time, averaging 6 minutes and 18 seconds, thus meeting the 7-minute target.
Category Two Response Times for Serious Emergencies
For category two ambulance calls, which include heart attacks and strokes, the average response time in England was 28 minutes and 34 seconds. This represents an almost 3-minute improvement from the previous month and over 5 minutes faster than the same month last year.
Patients in the North East experienced the shortest average waiting times for category two calls, at 20 minutes and 54 seconds.
Category Two Regional Comparison
Conversely, the South West and East Midlands recorded longer category two response times, at 37 minutes and 2 seconds and 34 minutes and 28 seconds, respectively.
NHS Leaders Acknowledge Pressures and Improvements
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS National Medical Director, commented: “Despite services confronting the most demanding March on record for A&E and ambulance incidents, staff are continuing to reduce waiting times for urgent and emergency care.”
He added, “However, we recognize that further work is necessary to alleviate waits and delays across all NHS services.”
Rory Deighton, acute director at the NHS Confederation, also noted: “A&Es and ambulances sustained very high demand in March, with emergency departments experiencing their second-highest attendance levels ever recorded.”
He stated, “Despite this pressure, staff successfully treated three-quarters of A&E patients within the four-hour target and improved ambulance response times.”
He concluded, “It is evident that demand for NHS care remains elevated beyond the winter period.”
Factors Contributing to Delays
Lengthy ambulance response times result from various factors, with handover delays at hospitals being a significant issue. NHS targets stipulate that ambulance crews should complete patient handovers at A&E within 15 minutes.
However, numerous handover delays lasting thirty minutes or more continue to be reported across NHS trusts in England. These delays can arise from A&E departments being overwhelmed by multiple ambulance arrivals simultaneously, as well as insufficient space within hospitals, partly due to bed-blocking.
Hospital Handover Delays
In March, the South West reported the longest hospital handover times, with patients waiting an average of 52 minutes and 13 seconds to be transferred from ambulances into A&E. The West Midlands followed with an average handover time of 51 minutes and 5 seconds. In comparison, the North East recorded an average handover time of 18 minutes and 57 seconds.