§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received and what data he has in his possession concerning delays in(a) reception of 999 calls at the headquarters of the London ambulance 63W service, (b) dispatch of emergency calls from that headquarters and (c) arrival of ambulances at emergency incidents.
§ Mr. Sackville[holding answer 14 May 1992]: A number of written representations about the performance of the London ambulance service (LAS) have been received over a period of several months. These have concerned delays in answering 999 calls and delays in arriving at emergencies. All the representations are investigated by the LAS and we are satisfied it is acting decisively to remedy the situation by (a) modernising the emergency vehicle fleet (b) introducing more staff at peak periods and (c) building in safeguards to the new computer aided dispatch system.
Table 1 gives activation time figures for the London ambulance service for 1990–91, the latest figures available. The activation time of an ambulance is the time taken from an emergency call being received to a fully equipped vehicle being on the move. The table shows that 66–4 per cent. of calls resulted in an activation time of three minutes or less. The standards in operation for that year were that 95 per cent. of calls should result in an activation time of three minutes or less.
Table 2 gives response time figures. The response time of an ambulance is the time taken from an emergency call to the arrival of a fully equipped vehicle at the place where the patient is. The standards for response times were that 50 per cent. of calls should result in a response within seven minutes, and 95 per cent. within 14 minutes.
It should be noted that in all calculations of percentages the denominator may include calls that did not result in activation and/or response.
PATIENT TRANSPORT SERVICES 1990–91
TABLE 1 Quality of service for London Ambulance Service Activation time Number Total number of emergency calls 456,695 Number where activation within 3 minutes 303,319 Percentage of calls where activation within 3 minutes 66.4 Source: KA34 DH Statistics Division 2B 1992
TABLE 2 Quality of service for London Ambulance Service Response times Number Total number of emergency calls 456,695 Number where response within 7 minutes 50,390 Percentage of calls where response within 7 minutes 11.0 Number where response within 14 minutes 336,734 Percentage of calls where response within 14 minutes 73.7 Source: KA34 DH Statistics Division 2B 1992