Patients waited as much as two-and-a-half days for ambulances – and 40 hours to get into A&E

Patients have been left ready as much as 65 hours for an ambulance in England – whereas one affected person waited at the back of an ambulance for 40 hours outdoors A&E.

Data collected by Labour from Freedom of Information requests present lengthy waits for ambulances and folks ready hours outdoors hospitals ready to be admitted to A&E this winter.

Half of NHS ambulance trusts in England responded to the request, and worst ready occasions included:

• A affected person within the North West who waited 65 hours, 38 minutes and 13 seconds in December for a response to a class 3 name – pressing however not instantly life-threatening and must be reached inside two hours in 90% of circumstances

• Waits after class 2 calls – which may embrace coronary heart assault and stroke victims – within the West Midlands and Yorkshire included sufferers left ready for greater than 21 hours as a substitute of the 18-minute goal

• A class 2 within the East Midlands was greater than 26 hours in December – the longest await such severe signs

• One affected person who waited 40 hours at the back of an ambulance outdoors a hospital within the South West attributable to employees and mattress shortages

• A affected person within the East of England with an nearly 36-hour wait

• Another within the West Midlands who needed to await 32 hours at the back of an ambulance

Shadow well being secretary Wes Streeting mentioned: “Patients can no longer trust that an ambulance will reach them in an emergency.

“Stroke and coronary heart assault victims are left ready for hours, when each second counts.”

NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts, mentioned the figures present final winter was “one of the toughest on record for the NHS” and the federal government’s long-term workforce plan “cannot come a minute too soon”.

On common, individuals ready for a class 2 response in December waited one hour, 32 minutes and 54 seconds, the NHS England knowledge confirmed.

Meanwhile, 36,000 class 2 sufferers waited for ambulances for greater than three and a half hours in December.

January noticed a giant enchancment, with the typical response time decreasing to 39 minutes and 33 seconds – however that was nonetheless a lot greater than the 18-minute goal.

But from 1 December to twenty-eight February, 129,023 individuals waited greater than an hour in ambulances outdoors hospitals.

Mr Streeting added: “This is the terrifying reality after 13 years of Conservative understaffing of our NHS.

“Patients ought to be capable of cellphone 999, protected within the information that they are going to get a solution and an ambulance once they want it. The longer we hold the Conservatives in workplace, the longer sufferers will wait.

“Labour will launch the biggest expansion of the NHS workforce in history, training the staff needed to reach patients on time, paid for by abolishing the non-dom tax status. We will ensure the NHS is there for us when we need it once again.”

Read extra:
NHS ready lists hit 7.3 million
Care delayed for 3 years as backlog will increase

NHS Providers chief govt Sir Julian Hartley mentioned: “Trust leaders will be very concerned by these wait times as ensuring timely, high-quality care for patients is their top priority.

“The causes of lengthy ambulance waits are advanced. High demand – all the time at its worst in winter – together with overstretched capability and huge workforce shortages all contribute.”

A Conservative Party spokesman accused Labour of “throwing stones in glass houses” and mentioned the occasion ought to “start fixing the mess they have made in Wales”.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman mentioned: “No one should have to wait longer than necessary to access urgent and emergency care and we are working hard to improve ambulance waiting times, which have substantially reduced from the peak of winter pressures in December 2022.

“Our Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery Plan will permit individuals to be seen faster by scaling up neighborhood groups, increasing digital wards, and getting 800 new ambulances on the highway.

“This is on top of £750m we have provided this winter to speed up hospital discharge and free up beds.”