Slow 999 response times forcing many more people to find own way to A&E

About 20% – or 96,000 – of those who made their own way to A&E in England were aged 65 or older. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA

Growing numbers of seriously ill people are making their own way to A&E in what has been called an “Uber ambulance crisis”, because 999 response times are too slow.

A&E doctors said that while they understood that people are acting out of “desperation”, they are taking a serious risk with their health, especially if they are driving themselves.