§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many 999 calls were made to the Greater London Ambulance Service between 20 December 2001 and 3 January 2002 for which it was decided an ambulance was not necessary; and what proportion of calls over this period such calls represented. [46756]
§ Ms BlearsThe London Ambulance Service operates a system of priority despatch, under which all calls are categorised according to their clinical priority. Under this system 6,041 calls received between 20 December 2001 and 3 January 2002 were determined to fall into the categories of neither serious nor life-threatening. This represented 20 per cent. of the total workload for that period.