Patients in drive to improve the urgency of ambulances (From This Is Local London)

Patients in drive to improve the urgency of ambulances

7:00am Monday 12th January 2009 in Where I Live By David Lindsell

Patients are asking for a guarantee from ambulance chiefs that every life threatening call in London will see an ambulance arrive within 8 minutes.

At the moment London Ambulance Service has a government set target of reaching three out of four of category A calls within that time.

But it is struggling to achieve that in Croydon, Richmond & Twickenham and Wandsworth, falling well short during some of the summer months.

The NHS trust is also failing to meet its 95 per cent target within 19 minutes for serious but not life threatening category B incidents.

Since April last year, new national standards forced ambulance trusts to start the ‘clock’ ticking from the moment a call is connected.

Malcolm Alexander chairman of the patient forum wants ambulance chiefs to up its ambitions and hit 100 percent of category A calls within 8 minutes.

The London Ambulance Service receives around 4,000 emergency calls every day and has 400 ambulances, 100 rapid-response units in cars, 10 motorcycles and 14 cycle units.

Kathy Jones, director of service development at LAS will respond at the patients' forum public meeting tonight.

The meeting will take place in City Hall tonight from 5.30pm to 7.30pm.

Category A & B response times for October 2008

NHS targets are 75 per cent for category A and 95 per cent for category B

Croydon 69 per cent / 85 per cent

Wandsworth 70 per cent / 83 per cent

Merton and Sutton 81 per cent / 88 per cent

Richmond & Twickenham 67 per cent / 86 per cent

Kingston 78 per cent / 86 per cent