§ Mr. Alan DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of ambulance response times to category A calls by the East Midlands Ambulance Trust in(a) the county of Rutland and (b) the Melton Borough Council area were achieved within eight minutes in the last period for which figures are available; for those responses which took longer than eight minutes, how long it took for the ambulance to respond; and if he will make a statement. [78752]
§ Ms Blears[holding answer 4 November 2002]: Information on Category A 999 response times for the County of Rutland or the Melton Borough Council area is not available. The activities for these two areas are monitored as part of the East Midlands Ambulance Service.
The latest information about the proportion of emergency calls resulting in an ambulance arriving at the scene of the reported incident within the 523W Government's target response times for the East Midlands Ambulance NHS Trust, and all other ambulance trusts, is contained in the Department of Health Statistical Bulletin "Ambulance Services, England 2001–02".
During that period, East Midlands Ambulance Service responded to 73.1 per cent. of Category A 999 calls within the East Midlands area within 8 minutes.
I understand that since 1 September 2002, ambulance service cover has been increased in Melton, Oakham and Market Harborough by an additional 81 vehicle hours per day.