Ambulance response times since 2019 (FOI)

​​​Request

A

Please outline the number of patients waiting over the target response times over the past five years.  If this could be broken down as follows:

Ambulance response times (FOI)

B

Please confirm the number of ambulances on call during day and night shifts.

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.

Prior to October 2022, 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 four tables attached show the number and percentage of calls each month prior to October 2022 where the response time outlined above has not been met (Table 1). 

Table 1.pdf​

During October 2022, the Ambulance Service moved to new categorisations under the Ambulance Response Programme (ARP). Under ARP guidance, response time performance is measured based on average and 90th percentile targets (this means that 9 out of 10 calls should be attended within the target time). The category is defined based on the standards currently used in Jersey; these are: 

• CAT1 – A time critical life-threatening event requiring immediate intervention or resuscitation – average response time target: 7 minutes, 90th percentile response time target: 15 minutes.
• CAT2 – Potentially serious conditions that may require rapid assessment and urgent on-scene intervention and/or urgent transport – average response time target: 18 minutes, 90th percentile response time target: 40 minutes.
• CAT3 – An urgent problem (not immediately life-threatening) that needs treatment to relieve suffering and transport or assessment and management at the scene with referral where needed within a clinically appropriate timeframe – average response time target: 60 minutes, 90th percentile response time target: 120 minutes.
• CAT4 – Problems that are less urgent but require assessment and possibly transport within a clinically appropriate timeframe – 90th percentile response time target: 180 minutes.

The two tables attached show the average and 90th percentile response times each month since ARP was implemented (Table 2). The number of calls exceeding the 90th percentile target is also shown.

Table 2.pdf​

B

4 emergency ambulances between 7am and 7pm, and 2 emergency ambulances between 7pm and 7am.

1 single emergency response car (Leading Paramedic) between 7am and 3am.

1 non-emergency stretcher ambulance between 7am and 5pm.

(Work is ongoing to achieve a third emergency ambulance between 7pm and 1am and the single response car (Leading Paramedic) 24/7.)​