At least three ambulance services in England have declared critical incidents as NHS services around the country face “unprecedented” pressure. North East Ambulance Service, South East Coast Ambulance Service and the East of England Ambulance Service have all moved to the status as staff work to respond to calls.
The former operates across Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham, Darlington and Teesside; South East Coast Ambulance Service covers Brighton & Hove, East Sussex, West Sussex, Kent, Surrey and North East Hampshire; while the latter works in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.
North East Ambulance Service said it declared a critical incident on Monday afternoon as a result of “significant delays for more than 200 patients waiting for an ambulance, together with a reduction in ambulance crew availability to respond because of delays in handing over patients at the region’s hospitals”.
