Ambulance chief says service prepared for winter

An ambulance service boss has said he is confident its performance will improve this winter.

Dan Ainsworth, from the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) said the system could cope during the busy festive period because it had more staff and vehicles.

In 2021 to 2022, the average response time for Category 2 incidents such as strokes and burns was more than 47 minutes, against an NHS target of 18 minutes.

Mr Ainsworth urged patients: "Do contact us, and we will respond."

NWAS has 32 new emergency vehicles - bringing the total up to 553 ambulances - and has taken on about 280 extra staff.

Response times have returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Mr Ainsworth said the service was also working with hospitals to make sure ambulances were not waiting at A&E because they could not hand over patients, due to a lack of beds and social care provision.

He explained that dark nights, more calls and a rise in flu cases, were some of the reasons the NHS faced a busy winter period, so it was important anyone who went to hospital "absolutely needed to be there".

He said patients would be advised how to navigate other services, including NHS 11 and pharmacy care.

"We understand the healthcare system will work best when we work in partnership," he said.

"Last winter we did a huge amount of work improving our front line workforce and we have continued to build upon that to ensure all of those vehicles are available through winter," he added.

Linda Morris, 75, said there was still room for improvement across the board.

She said her 87-year-old husband had to “crawl home” after over three hours lying on the ground after a fall in Leigh – an incident that would not have been logged as a Category 2 by NWAS.

Mrs Morris said: "He shouldn’t have had to wait on the floor. It was an emergency, and it was very cold."

The response target for Category 3 incidents, which are urgent problems that need a transfer for specialist treatment, such as abdominal problems and diabetes complications, is for 90% of calls to be answered within 120 minutes.

Category 4 calls, which are non-urgent and can include falls and back problems, have a 90% target of 180 minutes.