Calls for action amid 'dreadful' ambulance wait times

Handover times at hospital emergency departments are said to be a factor

Council leaders have called for urgent action to improve "dreadful" ambulance response times.

Patients with life-threatening injuries in some areas of the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, are waiting seven minutes longer than the expected eight minutes for an ambulance.

Cotswold District Council leaders have now demanded a full report on what steps South Western Ambulance Service NHS (SWASFT) will take to speed up times.

SWASFT acknowledged improvements were needed but said lengthy hospital handover times remain a major obstacle.

In July, patients in the Cotswold who needed an ambulance in the most serious cases had to wait five minutes longer than the expected eight minutes.

In Northleach, ambulances took as long as 22 minutes on average in August, but this improved to 15 minutes in September.

And for category two cases, such as people suffering from a stroke, the target is 18 minutes but it is taking an average of 57 minutes across the district.

'Dreadful figures'

Councillor Paul Hodgkinson raised concerns over the delays at a meeting on 25 September.

“I first flagged this issue 10 years ago,” said the Liberal Democrat councillor.

“The improvements I’ve seen is uneven. And this year performance in rural areas like ours has actually got worse.

“The latest figures for July show some dreadful figures for our district.”

The council unanimously passed Mr Hodgkinson’s motion, which calls on SWASFT chief executive Dr John Martin for a full report on what steps he will be taking to improve ambulance response times.

The council is seeking a full report from SWAST chief executive Dr John Martin

Figures published in May show that SWASFT had longest response times of all ambulance trusts nationally.

The council will also ask for the issue to become a standard agenda item of Gloucestershire County Council’s health overview and scrutiny and write to the two Cotswold MPs asking them to raise the issue in Parliament.

A spokesperson for SWASFT said: “Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our people and partners, our response times have improved over recent weeks, but we recognise there is still more to do.

“Handover delays at emergency departments remain one of our biggest challenges.

"To ensure our ambulances are available to attend the next emergency call within the community, we need to be able to hand patients over within the 15-minute national target.”