HC Deb 14 October 1996 vol 282 c758W
Mr. Spearing

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure in the trials he is initiating concerning prioritisation of emergency ambulance calls that(a) those responsible for such judgments have had extensive crew experience and (b) a full report of the initial schemes is (i) made public and (ii) open to comment prior to extensions of the principles elsewhere. [40401]

Mr. Horam

We have accepted the recommendation of the steering group on ambulance performance standards that responses to 999 calls be prioritised according to the seriousness of the patient's clinical need. The principle of call prioritisation was endorsed in the consultation document published in July 1995, copies of which are available in the Library, and the proposed changes were widely supported.

Two call prioritisation systems have been approved. These have been successfully operated in other countries and have already been tested in two United Kingdom ambulance services alongside existing methods of ambulance despatch. A research report on these systems was published in July 1996, copies of which are available in the Library, and found both safe and reliable. Decisions as to the priority of calls can safely be made by control room staff trained to operate these systems.

Four ambulance services plan to implement call prioritisation from 1 April 1997. The Department of Health is commissioning a study of the new systems in operation in these services and will publish this.

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