Ambulance waiting times are still short of NHS targets, despite having fallen over the last month. Ambulances took an average of nine minutes and eight seconds to respond to category one calls - those for life-threatening injuries - in August in England.
That’s down from nine minutes and 35 seconds in July. However, it’s longer than the seven-minute target set by the NHS. Category two calls, which cover things like strokes, were responded to in an average of 42 minutes and 44 seconds, well short of the 18-minute target.
Category three calls, meanwhile, were dealt with in an average of two hours 16 minutes, compared to a target of two hours, and category four calls were responded to within an average of two hours 56 minutes, compared to a target of three hours.
Response times vary across England. South Western Ambulance Service responded to category one calls in an average of 11 minutes and 27 seconds, the longest time of any ambulance service in England. In London, however, category one calls were responded to in an average of seven minutes and 38 seconds.
Ambulance service: Cat 1 response time
- East Midlands: 9:18
- East of England: 10:17
- London: 7:38
- North East: 7:39
- North West: 7:55
- South Central: 9:33
- South East: 9:08
- South Western: 11:27
- West Midlands: 8:12
- Yorkshire: 9:42
East of England Ambulance service has the worst record for category two calls. Those calls should be responded to within 18 minutes, but in the East they take an average of an hour and one minute.
South Western Ambulance Service take an average of 59 minutes and 45 seconds to respond to category two calls, while East Midlands Ambulance Service take an average of 53 minutes and seven seconds.
South Central Ambulance Service, meanwhile, takes 31 minutes and 46 seconds to respond to category two calls, the quickest of any ambulance service in England.
- East Midlands: 53:07
- East of England: 1:01:22
- London: 42:14
- North East: 37:32
- North West: 36:06
- South Central: 31:46
- South East: 35:29
- South Western: 59:45
- West Midlands: 35:50
- Yorkshire: 32:38
Six ambulance services fell short of the two-hour target for category three calls - East Midlands (two hours 34 minutes), East of England (two hours 49 minutes), North West (two hours 54 minutes), South East (two hours 44 minutes), South Western (two hours nine minutes), and West Midlands (two hours 33 minutes).
Four fell short of the three-hour target for category four calls - East Midlands (three hours 43 minutes), London (three hours 45 minutes), North West (three hours 22 minutes), and South East (four hours 23 minutes).
