Ambulance response times (FOI)

Request

A

In the past five years, how many times were patients waiting over eight minutes for Category A calls and 19 minutes for Category B and C calls for an ambulance. (Can you break it down by month, and year)

B

Can you let me know the longest waiting time for an ambulance per year for each of the past five years, and what injury / illness had the patients suffered?

C

Can you let me know the longest waiting time for an ambulance in the past six months- and what kind of injury / illness it was?

D

How many ambulances are on call at any one time in Jersey?

Response

A

Emergency calls are subject to target response times and the response target varies by the severity of the chief complaint. This question has therefore been answered with a breakdown by category to provide this context. The category is defined based on the standards in use in Jersey since 2020. These are:

• Red1 – Situation is immediately life threatening – target response time: eight minutes

• Red2 – Situation is serious or could be life-threatening – target response time: eight minutes

• Green1 – Situation is serious but not immediately life-threatening – target response time: 19 minutes

• Green2 – Situation is less serious and not life-threatening – target response time: 19 minutes

• Green3 – Non-urgent calls – target response time: 30 minutes

Data from previous years have been re-mapped to these categories, but comparison of response times over the years must take into account that these were not the standards that were in place at the time of the call in the earlier years.

The tables below show the number and percentage of calls each month over the last five years where the response time outlined above has not been met.

Ambulance callouts exceeding target times

B

The longest time from clock start to an ambulance arriving at the scene recorded in each year and call category is as shown in the following table. Due to the small numbers involved it is not possible provide a breakdown of what injury /  illness the patient had suffered for as this could potentially lead to disclosure of personal information.

Article 25 (Personal information) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has therefore been applied.

C

The table below shows the longest wait time for an Ambulance in the past six months. Due to the small numbers involved it is not possible provide a breakdown of what injury / illness the patient had suffered for as this could potentially lead to disclosure of personal information.

Article 25 (Personal information) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has therefore been applied.

D

Between 06:50 and 19:00 there is a minimum of three double crewed emergency ambulances scheduled to be available. Between 18:50 and 07:00 there is a minimum of two double crewed emergency ambulances scheduled to be available. In addition to this there is a Leading Ambulance Paramedic Response Car from 07:00 to 03:00 (working shifts from 07:00 to 17:00 and 17:00 to 03:00) and a double crewed Intermediary Care Vehicle 0650-2300 (working Shifts from 0650 to 17:00 and 16:50 to 23:00). The same shift patterns apply seven days per week.

The Ambulance Service is then supported through a Scheme of Emergency and Community First Responders.

Article applied

Article 25 - Personal information

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018.

(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018; and

(b) its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law.