HC Deb 15 January 2002 vol 378 cc262-3W
Mr. Burns

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many calls the London ambulance service received during the most recent 12 months for which figures are available; [24690]

(2) how many hoax calls were made to the London ambulance service during the last year; [24698]

(3) what proportion of calls made to the London ambulance service over the last year that were acted upon were deemed inappropriate calls; [24688]

(4) what was the average time it took, for the latest year for which figures are available, for the London ambulance service to respond to calls; and what the equivalent figures were for the previous three years; [24629]

(5) what was the average response time of the London ambulance service over the last year; [24689]

(6) how many call outs were made to the London ambulance service in the latest year for which figures are available; [24630]

(7) how many calls to the London ambulance service during the last year were screened, with a subsequent determination that the sending of an ambulance was not necessary. [24709]

Ms Blears

[holding answer 8 January 2002]: Information about the number of emergency calls and the number resulting in an emergency response arriving at the scene of the reported incident for the London ambulance national health service trust are contained in the Department of Health Statistical Bulletin "Ambulance Services, England 2000/01". The bulletin also contains information about the response times to emergency calls. A copy of the bulletin is in the Library and available at www.doh.gov.uk/public/sb0115.htm.

Information on the number of hoax calls made to the London Ambulance Service (LAS) is not collected centrally. However, the LAS classify a hoax call as one where, on arrival of an ambulance crew or first responder, there is no patient to be found at the scene. The LAS recorded 391 such calls between the beginning of January and the end of November 2001. This figure represents less than 0.5 per cent. of the total workload for that period.

The LAS recognise that the majority of patients who dial 999 require some form of medical help or other assistance but also believe that, for many, their illness and injuries do not require an emergency ambulance to attend them. It is, however, extremely difficult to set a strict definition as to what constitutes an inappropriate call.

The LAS launched on 17 December 2001 a public education campaign to reduce the more blatant inappropriate use of the service by patients who could make their own way to an accident and emergency department or, in some cases, do not require hospital treatment at all. The campaign also highlights the fact that people should not phone the LAS for advice and so clog up the 999 call-taking system, but should instead be phoning NHS Direct or seeking advice from their GP.