Lib Dems announce emergency fund to open community ambulance stations and cut response times

EMBARGO: 22.30 Saturday 22nd June

• £50 million emergency fund will support ambulance trusts in reversing or halting closures

• Liberal Democrats aim to restore public confidence that a call to 999 will get them the emergency treatment they need 

• Shropshire has seen all four community ambulance stations close

• 115,000 Category 1 and Category 2 ambulance call outs estimated to miss target times before 4th July 

The Liberal Democrats have today (Sunday 23rd June) pledged a £50 million-a-year emergency fund, to allow ambulance trusts to reverse closures of community ambulance stations and cancel planned closures.

The announcement comes as new estimations of NHS data by the Liberal Democrats have found that 86,603 Category 2 call outs and 27,765 Category 1 call outs are estimated to miss their eighteen and seven minute targets respectively.

These categories include strokes and heart attacks, with categories listed as life and death situations.

The new data estimates showed London and the West Midlands would be the worst affected regions, with over 2,100 callouts estimated to be missed for the Category 1 target of seven minutes for life threatening emergencies over the next 11 days.

Last winter saw delays to 28% of all ambulance arrivals in England, and ambulance waiting time statistics for May 2024 show a response time of over half an hour for Category 2 emergencies, such as patients suffering from strokes. 

Closures have particularly affected rural communities - Shropshire has lost all four of its community ambulance stations, leaving only Telford and Shrewsbury to serve the entire county.

The fund, which will stand at £50 million a year over the next Parliament, will provide additional resources to ambulance trusts in England to support them in reducing response times.

This funding is in addition to the Liberal Democrats’ plan to invest in A&E to help end ambulance handover delays, with an upfront capital investment of £280m to expand urgent treatment centres and A&E wards and an additional £400m per year to add an extra 1,000 staffed beds in hospitals.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

“Everyone should be confident that when they ring 999 in a life or death emergency, an ambulance will arrive in good time. 

“It is a scandal that under the Conservative government, people have lost faith that an ambulance will arrive in time to save them or their loved ones. 

“Paramedics have been working flat out to keep us safe and healthy, but the Conservatives have failed to act on warnings that they are struggling to maintain a safe and timely service. The evidence shows this is costing lives.

“By making this additional funding available to ambulance trusts, Liberal Democrats will support them to reverse and halt closures of community ambulance stations - reducing waiting times, and ensuring patient safety.

“A vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote for a fair deal on health, ensuring everyone can get the high-quality healthcare they need, when they need it and where they need it.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

Liberal Democrat plans would see the creation of an emergency ambulance station fund worth £50m a year on average over the next five years.

NHS England waiting time statistics are available here. 

Liberal Democrat estimates of ambulance response times can be found here.

Estimates were done by using the mean and 90th percentile times to calculate how many instances will be above/below a particular time, assuming that is a standard distribution of the times (i.e 10% of times should be about the 90th percentile). It is then possible to create an estimate of the distribution 7 minute target cut off occurs, and then calculate the number of instances above or below this point.