Ambulance response times (FOI)

Request

A

How many emergency call outs have there been to the ambulance service so far in 2022? 

B

How many have the Ambulance responded to? (Could this be broken down by month?) 

C

What is the target response time?

D

Could you group these responses into groups of how long the patient was waiting i.e., between 1 and 30 minutes 30 and 60 minutes between 60 and 90 minutes - between 90 and 120 minutes and more? 

E

What is the longest time someone had to wait for an ambulance so far in 2022?

Response

A

Table 1 below shows the number of emergency calls to the ambulance service and the number responded to (at least one resource arrived at scene) to the end of September 2022, by month.

There are several reasons why a call may not be attended by an ambulance – these include but are not limited to duplicate calls, call being cancelled by the caller, another Emergency service dealing with the call and not needing support.

B

Table 2 below shows calls where at least one ambulance has attended the scene, the response time for the first resource that arrived at the scene. 

The clock start time is taken as when the chief complaint has been established. 

C

Response times were benchmarked until the end of September 2022 against the following categories: 

• Red One – 75% within 8 minutes
• Red Two – 75% within 8 minutes 
• Green One – 75% within 18 minutes
• Green Two – 75% within 18 minutes 
• Green Three – 75% within 30 minutes

From October 2022 the benchmark has changed to:

• Category One, 7 minutes mean average, 90th Centile 15 minutes
• Category Two, 18 minutes mean average, 90th centile 40 minutes
• Category Three, 120 minutes 90th centile  
• Category Four 180 minutes 90th centile 

D

Please see table 2.

E

Between January and September 2022 the longest wait for an ambulance was 9 hours 12 minutes.

Tables 1 and 2.pdf