Ambulance response times double as patients die waiting for paramedics

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “There are very real concerns about the risk to patients – with reports of people left in significant pain for hours or whose health deteriorated before paramedics were able to attend”, he said, adding: “The impact of these mounting pressures on staff in ambulance services and hospitals is also a major concern as they do all they can to deliver safe care under the most demanding circumstances.” Prof Baker said the problems with capacity in the NHS had been building for years but had been made worse by the pandemic. It’s just become accepted.” This story is being repeated across England with reports of patients dying in the backs of ambulances and elderly patients lying on the floor for hours after calling 999. open image in gallery The hours lost by ambulance crews waiting outside hospital A&E units Analysis of the latest NHS England ambulance data by law firm Bond Turner shows the significant decline in performance. “Of course, these delays lead to potential patient care and health repercussions, which can sometimes be very serious, and this is despite staff working tirelessly to try and alleviate this crisis.” Data obtained by The Independent shows in October ambulances across the West Midlands region were delayed outside hospitals by a total of 28,000 hours – which resulted in 78 ambulance crews not able to respond to 999 calls. open image in gallery Hospitals with the longest handover delays Richard Webber, from the College of Paramedics, told The Independent: “Paramedics from across the country are saying they’re going to more and more patients who’ve waited far too long for help and those patients have either deteriorated or died as a result of delays.” He said: “There’s been a couple of cases recently where patients have been in an ambulance outside of hospital and then stopped breathing and have subsequently died.