Hull and East Riding ambulance response times 'higher than Yorkshire averages'
The service says it's facing some of the highest levels of pressure ever
Ambulance response times in Hull and the East Riding are higher than Yorkshire averages as the service faces some of the highest levels of pressure ever, a report has said.
An NHS report stated the response time to life-threatening incidents was around 10 minutes on average in Hull and the East Riding compared to Yorkshire’s 9 minutes and 30 seconds.
The data, covering April to September, showed category two response times for conditions such as strokes in East Yorkshire was 48 minutes on average compared to Yorkshire’s almost 40 minutes.
It comes as a Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) report to East Riding Council stated high levels of pressure were having a significant impact on it and patients.
It stated the amount of call outs for life-threatening conditions in December was the highest ever recorded.
It also comes as NHS figures showed 64.4 hours were lost on average every day due to ambulance handover delays at hospitals in December, compared to 16.4 a year before.
The YAS report stated its accident and emergency operations, responding to 999 calls, manning the 111 urgent medical advice line and patient transport services were all affected by mounting pressures.
It added YAS 999 contact centres got around 3,200 calls daily from April to September, 16 per cent more than in 2019, though recent weeks have seen performance improvements generally.
The report stated: “Whilst many of the pressures experienced at the height of the coronavirus pandemic have eased, there remains sustained pressure on health and care capacity and demand for services, and on staff, which have been felt across the whole region.
“Nationally, in December, call outs for life-threatening cases were the highest on record and almost a fifth higher than the previous record.
“Pressures across the health and social care system have led to hospital handover delays across Yorkshire and the Humber and the Trust remains concerned about the significant impact this has on the availability of emergency ambulances an on patient care.
“The Trust has continued to work with partners to reduce hospital conveyance for patients who can be treated at home and who can access appropriate alternative pathways and care rather than emergency departments.
“We also saw record levels of demand for our 111 service in December, however there has been a reduction in demand in comparison with the previous year.
“Industrial action during December, January and February has been challenging and the focus during the days of industrial action has been to prioritise patients with life-threatening conditions and our end of life patient transport.
“We also received assistance from the military to help transport low acuity patients.
“With further dates for industrial action confirmed throughout February and March, we are anticipating further disruption to our services and will be continuing to prioritise our patients.”