Hampshire's ambulances fail to meet 999 response times
Critically-ill patients in our area waited longer for ambulances than almost anywhere else in the country, The News can reveal.
South Central Ambulance Service was the only NHS trust in England to miss all three of its targets in 2008/9.
Under-pressure staff reached just 72.6 per cent of life-threatening calls in eight minutes. The target is 75 per cent.
And paramedics arrived at only 88 per cent of not life-threatening incidents, within the required 19 minutes.
The goal is 95 per cent.
Hampshire paramedic Simon Surplice, who is also a spokesman for the Association of Professional Ambulance Personnel, blamed a lack of resources.
'We see an increase year-on-year in the number of jobs we do. But there isn't a big year-on-year increase in the amount of resources we have to do the job with,' he said. 'The demand is only going to get worse so we need to start handling more calls better and getting the message out to more people about when they should dial 999.'
The trust – the biggest in the country – saw a 4.4 per cent rise in the number of callouts in a year – a total of 364,700.
Ironically this works out at an average of 999 a day.
The number of patient journeys to hospital also rocketed by 11.3 per cent year-on-year to 242,200.
Ambulance chiefs put the failure to meet government targets down to a new programme called 'Call Connect', where calls are timed from the moment they are answered.
They also blamed it on a hike in calls over the festive period.
The trust says standards have since improved and more staff have been recruited.
As of last week it was recording a 77 per cent response rate to all serious, life-threatening calls within eight minutes – slightly above the government-set standard.
Andy Jones, the trust's assistant planning director, said: 'Our performance was pretty depressed in the early part of last year and in December. Call Connect came in which was difficult as we were still recruiting and getting more people on the road.
'We played catch-up but now we are getting 77 per cent performance for serious, life-threatening calls.'
AMBULANCE RESPONSE TIMES
Life-threatening calls
Target: 75 per cent response in eight minutes
Area No. of incidents Response rate (per cent)
England........... 1,940,700 .....74.3
South Central......89,800.......72.6
Serious calls
Target: 95 per cent response in 19 minutes
Area No. of incidents Response rate (per cent)
England...........1,934,700..........96.9
South Central.....89,500.............94.5
Not life-threatening calls
Target: 95 per cent response in 19 minutes
Area No. of incidents Response rate (per cent)
England 2,533,300 91.0
South Central 166,500 88.0
JUST SOME OF THE CASES WHERE HELP ARRIVED TOO LATE
The News has reported on a number of patients who have been left waiting for an ambulance.
Alice Pickthall waited 41 minutes for an ambulance after being hit by a car in Rydal Road, Gosport. An ambulance should have arrived within 19 minutes, but the 15-year-old, from King's Road, Gosport, had to wait as all five vehicles in the area were out on emergency calls.
Olive Webb had to wait six hours for an ambulance because her case was not deemed an emergency. The 75-year-old, of Highfield Avenue, Fareham, was told the ambulance would arrive within two hours after she dialled 999 with an internal bleed. Instead she had to wait until 3.09am – six hours later.
David Lowe was yards from his home when he collapsed and died. Widow Eileen, 73, of Ashdown, Rowner, Gosport, believes the 77-year-old might still be alive if an ambulance had arrived sooner.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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