Concerns over Gloucestershire ambulance times

Gloucestershire County councillors say they want a meeting with SWAST bosses

A letter is to be sent to Health Secretary Victoria Atkins, citing serious concerns over ambulance waiting times in Gloucestershire.

Leading Gloucestershire County councillors have also called for a briefing from senior staff at the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust (SWAST).

Figures show patients suffering a stroke or other serious health issues have to wait an average of 30 minutes for an ambulance, when the target is 18 minutes.

A spokesperson for SWAST said the service would "welcome the chance" to meet with councillors.

SWAST currently has the longest average response times in the country.

SWAST failed to meet its improvement expectations for the previous financial year, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

It currently has the longest response times of all ambulance trusts nationally, primarily driven by the dispersed population and rural nature of much of the South West region.

Category one response times - which are those for life-threatening injuries and illnesses, specifically cardiac arrest - should be reached within seven minutes.

But in Gloucestershire ambulances have been taking around 10 minutes consistently over the last two years.

Average response time varies by district – with lower average response times in urban centres Cheltenham and Gloucester, and higher response times in rural areas.

Councillors at a health overview and scrutiny committee meeting expressed their frustration with what they regard as constant underperformance and delays and decided to write to the secretary of state, as well as call for a meeting with leading SWAST staff.

A spokesperson for SWAST said they would welcome the meeting, and said: "We are working with our partners in the NHS and social care to do all we can to improve the service that patients receive.”