34,000 patients harmed over ambulance delays in June

Patients spent 10 hours in ambulances outside of A&E on average in June, writes Rebecca Thomas

A total of 7,034 patients were in hospital as of 8am on May 11, down 21% week-on-week, according to NHS England (Jacob King/PA) (PA Archive)

At least 34,000 patients are likely to have come to harm due to ambulance handover delays in June.

A report from the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives also revealed a patient waited almost 24 hours in the back of an ambulance in June, while the average time waiting was 10 hours.

The figures show a deterioration in ambulance response and handover delays in June following a small improvement in May.

More than 2,000 patients waited over ten hours in ambulances outside of A&E from March to June, according to the figures.

The analysis comes as NHS figures yesterday revealed worsening ambulance delays with patients needing urgent responses, for ailments such as suspected heart attack or stroke, faced waits of almost 2 hours for ambulances. The safe response time is considered to be 18 minutes for these patients.

Delays in paramedics able to handover patients to A&E have worsened and are driving the declining response times to 999 calls.

The Stroke Association warned on Thursday the ambulance crisis could have “life threatening” consequences for thousands of stroke patients for whom “every minute is critical.”

The number of ambulances waiting more than two hours outside of A&Es also increased by 3,000 in June to 19,000 compared to May, as summer pressures hit.

This is almost five times higher than the year prior when just 4,000 ambulances waited more than two hours.

All ambulance services across the country are on black alert as delays, combined with additional demands from the heatwave mean services are struggling to respond.

Ambulance crews accross the country have raised concerns over waiting outside of A&E in the heat. According to a post regarding South West Ambulance Service, urgent volunteers have been called for to help give refreshments to paramedics and patients outside of A&E.

During a debate in the house of commons minister Maria Caulfield claimed ambulance response times were improving month on month.

However, the NHS data shows in June their performance had declined again.