NHS ambulance service cuts presence at Gatwick airport and sports venues

Secamb declined to reinstate an ambulance car and paramedic at Gatwick after the service was ended due to the pandemic and fall in passenger numbers in 2020. Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters

An NHS ambulance service is cutting back its presence at Gatwick airport and major sports events so it has more crews available to answer 999 calls, amid unprecedented pressures.

The South East Coast ambulance service (Secamb) has ended a longstanding arrangement under which Gatwick paid it to have an ambulance car and paramedic on site.