WMAS aims to send an ambulance to 75% of critical medical emergencies in 8 minutes or under. They aim to reach 95% of these patients in 19 minutes or under. In December 2007 they met the 19 minute target comfortably, 95% of calls were answered within 15 minutes 20 seconds and 100% of critical calls had been answered within 25 minutes and 20 seconds.
After the closure of the Bransford call centre on December 1st 2008, the sharp increase in Category A calls and the delays reported in turnaround times at Worcestershire Royal hospital, this key statistic was much worse in Worcestershire than in the comparable period in December 2008.
It took 23 minutes to respond to 95% of Category A calls and even at 28 minutes there were still 2.5% of critically ill patients awaiting ambulances.
Harriett Baldwin said, "This new information I have obtained from WMAS confirms the anecdotal stories that I have heard from members of the public and staff. During the first three weeks of December, 30 critically ill patients in Worcestershire still had not been reached by an ambulance within 28 minutes. The Trust's charts actually stop at 28 minutes, so this performance is literally "off the charts" it is so poor. While the Trust has experienced a very high level of Category A calls during December, I urge them to take urgent steps to prevent these life-threatening delays."
DOCUMENTS
Category A 19 minutes target Worcs Dec 07 vs 08
Category A 19 minutes target Worcestershire Dec 07 vs 08 part2
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