§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of ambulance services failed to meet their patients charter attendance record in the last year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. SackvilleLatest information is for the year 1993–94. Of the 40 English ambulance services, as constituted in that year, 10 to 25 per cent. did not meet the patients charter requirement. For an ambulance responding to an emergency call, the patients charter standard requirement is to arrive at the scene of an incident, in 95 per cent. of cases, within 14 minutes in the case of urban services and within 19 minutes in the case of rural services.