One in 20 waiting five minutes or more for 999 calls to be answered

EMBARGO: IMMEDIATE RELEASE

• People calling 999 for an ambulance can now expect to spend an average of nearly 90 seconds on hold, an almost 15-fold increase since 2018

• One in 20 are waiting five minutes or longer for someone to pick up the phone in an emergency

• In some regions 999 callers are waiting 10 minutes or more to get through 

One in 20 of those calling 999 for an ambulance in England are now waiting five minutes or more for their call to be answered, shocking new figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.

The average hold time for 999 ambulance calls in December was close to 90 seconds, a record high and an almost 15-fold increase since four years ago.

For the bottom five percent of calls, the average wait was 316 seconds or more than five minutes. This means some callers were waiting almost the same amount of time as the 7-minute target for ambulances to arrive at the scene for life-threatening Category 1 calls.

The research was commissioned by the Liberal Democrats from the House of Commons Library. It shows that every region in England has seen a staggering rise in delays to answer 999 ambulance calls in recent years.

In the South East Coast region, the worst hit part of the country, desperate 999 callers needing an ambulance are waiting an average of almost three minutes before getting through. One in twenty callers in the region are waiting on hold for a shocking 10 minutes, longer than the time ambulances are meant to respond to life-threatening emergencies.

After the South East Coast, the regions facing the worst average call response times were London (2 minutes 30 seconds), the South West (two minutes and six seconds) and Yorkshire (one minute 57 seconds). In London, one in twenty of those calling 999 for an ambulance waited 8 minutes and 43 seconds to get through.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for an urgent rescue plan to reduce pressure on ambulance services, including recruiting more GPs and fixing the crisis in social care. The party is also calling on the government to launch a recruitment drive of NHS 999 call handlers where they are needed, including encouraging retired and former staff to return.

As part of this the party is calling for measures to improve social care, free up hospital beds and stop ambulances waiting outside hospitals. 

Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, commented:

“It is devastating that some people are having to wait 10 minutes or more to get through to 999 in a medical emergency.

“I cannot imagine the feelings of distressed parents and patients as they are panicking, just waiting for someone to pick up the phone. 

“We know that every precious minute lost in life-threatening situations can be critical. People need to know that in an emergency, 999 calls will be answered straight away and an ambulance sent as quickly as possible.

“Every part of our emergency care system is suffering from years of neglect under this Conservative government. Ministers must urgently act to reduce these record delays that are causing harm to patients and huge stress to our hard-working paramedics and call handlers.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

The research from the House of Commons Library can be found here.

Liberal Democrats 5 Point NHS Winter Rescue Plan - Winter 2023

1. Fix Social Care to Enable Hospital Discharges

The Government needs to get serious about discharging people from hospital into appropriate social care to relieve pressure on A&Es, and they need to do it now. Any support they bring forward must be put in place immediately.

Excessive ambulance handover delays are being caused in part by an overall lack of beds and a social care system that is completely broken. Care homes are shutting their doors to new admissions because they lack the necessary staff. Social care needs urgent long term reforms.

There are 165,000 vacancies in social care and many current staff are leaving to take up work with better pay, such as in supermarkets. This is not sustainable. Social care is a skilled job and workers should be paid appropriately.

2. Negotiate a Fair Pay Deal for NHS Staff and Prioritise their Wellbeing

NHS staff are stressed and burnt out. Many are reducing their hours or leaving the service completely. A pay cut now will only exacerbate the exodus from the service and leave patients facing poor services. 

The Government needs to get round the table and negotiate in good faith a fair pay deal for NHS staff. 

The Government also needs to take staff wellbeing seriously and fix the issues that are driving staff to leave. A good start would be fixing the NHS pensions fiasco that is still hitting NHS employees with massive unfair tax bills, as well as putting in place proper resting facilities and good food for staff in hospitals.

3. Train and Recruit 8,000 Additional GPs

People right across the country are struggling to get a GP appointment when they need one.

The lack of access to GPs means more people going into A&E or needing an ambulance. The Government must train and recruit 8,000 more GPs to ensure that everyone can get an appointment when people need it.

It will reduce the pressure on hospitals and paramedics, saving crucial time and money elsewhere in the NHS.

4. Flu and Covid Vaccination Campaign

Covid has not simply gone away and to many it remains a significant threat. With thousands of people currently in hospital ill with Flu or Covid, it is key that as many people as possible who are eligible for Flu and Covid vaccination come forward for their free jab.

The Government must bring forward a new campaign to encourage anyone who has yet to get their Flu jab or Covid booster to do so. 

5. Empower Pharmacists

Thousands of desperate people are ending up at A&E because they can’t get an appointment with their GP. This is putting huge pressure on our emergency services and means people are not getting the care they need when they need it.

To ensure GPs have the capacity to see patients who need to see their doctor, qualified pharmacists need to be given the training and funding so that they can help more people with simple infections, 

As is the case in Wales and Scotland, pharmacists should be given the power and training to prescribe certain medicines, to ease the pressure on GPs.