Isle of Wight ambulance wait times linked to patient's death - report

Island ambulance staff trained on a new dispatch system at South Central Ambulance Service HQ

Long wait times for ambulances on the Isle of Wight have been linked to the death of a patient, a report said.

The death in January came to light in a report to the Isle of Wight NHS Trust's board this month, as it struggles with ambulance capacity issues.

In January, ambulance responses to category one life-threatening calls averaged 9 minutes and 25 seconds — the target is seven minutes.

The trust apologised and said it was investigating.

It added demand for ambulance services was currently exceeding its available capacity and had led to it failing to meet national response time targets, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Responses to category two emergency calls in January were 28 minutes and 31 seconds — the target is 18 minutes.

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The report, presented to Isle of Wight NHS Trust, said: "There were more long waits for ambulance in January, and one death associated with a long wait which is being reviewed.

"The divisional risk register has been revised to reflect increased risk."

The trust apologised to anyone who had been affected by the service pressures.

It added it had invested in additional ambulances and recruited more staff, introduced a rapid response vehicle and deployed ambulance community first responders as well as fire and rescue volunteer responders, acting as an alternative to dispatching an ambulance.

In the past 12 months, the trust said it had received more than 28,500 calls and seen a 25% increase in ambulance call-outs on the island over the past three years.

It added it responded to an average of 86 call-outs a day but added during busy periods this could rise to 115 or more.

A spokesperson said: "We want to assure islanders we are doing everything we can to continue to improve."

But added: "Despite the improvement, there is still more to do".