Snow ‘led to missed 999 targets’

Some 73.7 per cent of emergency patients in the region were reached within eight minutes of calling for help in 2010-11, according to official figures published yesterday.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service was ranked ninth out of 12 trusts in England for its response times and was among five which failed to reach a standard of 75 per cent of calls being reached within eight minutes.

The effort was an improvement, however, on the previous 12 months when 70.8 per cent of calls were reached within the target time, the worst performance in England.

Managers said the region’s ambulance service was “one of the most improved” in the country and pointed to the big freeze in the winter, which led to major delays for paramedics reaching people with life-threatening conditions, as well as an increase in emergency calls for help.

Tens of millions of pounds has been invested in improving ambulance services in Yorkshire in recent years and hundreds of new staff have been employed but demand has continued to soar. There were five per cent more emergency calls than expected last year.

Major variations in response times remain. Figures for 2010-11 show 87.4 per cent of 999 calls in Hull were reached in the target time but this fell to 68.2 per cent in North Yorkshire and 68.4 per cent in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Response times were also slower than the national target in Bradford, Kirklees, Leeds and Doncaster.

In the year to March, ambulance services in Yorkshire received 725,000 emergency calls, which have risen by 16 per cent in three years. Of these, 240,000 were for the most serious life-threatening incidents.

Nationally, NHS officials said ambulance services were improving their response times and were getting closer to the 75 per cent target.

Numbers of emergencies topped eight million for the first time - up by three per cent on the previous year.

Paramedics dealt with nearly 1.8 million emergency call-outs where the patient was treated only at the scene and did not need hospital treatment - a 10 per cent rise on the previous year.

Sarah Fatchett, director of operations at Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said: “The report shows that significant improvements have been made, almost three per cent on the previous year, making us one of the most improved ambulance services in England.

“We are reaching patients quicker than ever before even against a backdrop of an ever-increasing number of patients requiring emergency and urgent medical assistance.

“In addition, during 2010-11 Yorkshire was hit by one of the worst winters on record with prolonged periods of snow, ice and sub-zero temperatures causing an increase in 999 calls, hazardous road conditions and increased drive times for our staff which affected our response times significantly.

“Year-to-date, the trust is currently reaching 77.6 per cent of patients with potentially life-threatening illnesses and injuries within eight minutes showing that we have improved further and we are responding to the most seriously ill and injured patients within the eight-minute target.

“We constantly review the way in which we operate to ensure to ensure we provide the best care for our patients and will continue to work with our primary care trust commissioners to further develop our services.

“It is important to remember that response times are not the only measure of the service we provide to our patients and we are also very proud of the high quality clinical care given by our staff and is also proud of the improvements made in this area.”