One in 10 of most serious calls not answered promptly

1:00pm Saturday 17th January 2009

By Jack Blanchard

SHOCK has been expressed at new figures revealing nearly one in 10 of the most serious calls for ambulances in Worcestershire last month were not answered inside 19 minutes.

West Midlands Ambulance Trust revealed it is failing to meet the Government’s key target that 95 per cent of category A calls – the most serious emergency calls – are answered within that time limit, following the controversial closure of the emergency calls centre at Bransford, near Worcester, and its relocation into a new regional centre at Brierley Hill, near Dudley.

Figures show that in December 2007, the trust answered 98 per cent of serious calls in Worcestershire within the 19-minute limit – but in December 2008, following the move to Brierley Hill, this figure dropped to just over 90 per cent.

It has also emerged that 30 category A calls in Worcestershire last month – 2.5 per cent – were not even answered inside 28 minutes.

The trust has stressed it received far more emergency calls than usual last month and said many more calls were attended overall.

But Harriett Baldwin, Conservative party candidate for West Worcestershire, who released the figures yesterday, said she was shocked at the drop in percentage terms.

“I’m shocked that of Worcestershire’s 1,171 category A calls in the first three weeks of December 2008, 30 critically-ill people had to wait more than 28 minutes for an ambulance,” she said.

“This never happened in the comparable period in December 2007. It’s a clear measure of the way local people are suffering because of the ‘triple-whammy’ – the closure of Bransford, the slow turnaround of ambulances at Worcestershire Royal and the high number of category A calls in Worcestershire in this period.”

Mrs Baldwin visited the Brierley Hill centre last week armed with 10 key questions she wanted to ask the ambulance trust and released the answers today.

It was revealed last week the trust only answered 56.6 per cent of category A calls in December within eight minutes, compared with 69.6 per cent the year before. However, the actual number of calls they had to attend had soared by nearly 66 per cent.

Daren Fradgley, the ambulance trust’s regional head of emergency operations centres, said high demand last month had put the trust under extreme pressure.

“During December 2008 the trust responded to 2,205 category A cases in the Herefordshire and Worcestershire area, compared with 1,259 category A cases in December 2007 – an overall increase of 43 per cent,” he said.

“Responding to such a large increase in demand with only a similar number of resources as the previous year was undoubtedly going to stretch the emergency service to the limit.

“When you consider the huge rise in calls compared with the same period last year, it is no small achievement that this level of service was achieved.”

2. On any given day since December 1, 2008, how many Bransford staff have been on duty on the phones during each shift?

On any given day up to two staff from Bransford are on duty at Brierley Hill. There were two days during December when there were no Bransford staff on duty.

3. Since December 1, 2008, what has been the daily performance against the Category A target for Herefordshire and Worcestershire calls, and how does that compare with December 2007?

4. For Category A calls that miss the target, how long have delays been in Herefordshire and Worcestershire in December 2008 versus December 2007?

Dec 07 – 8.02 per cent took more than 15 minutes. Dec 08 -12.05 per cent took more than 15 minutes.

5. What has been the volume of Herefordshire and Worcestershire calls in December 2008 versus December 2007?

6. How many ambulances/ ambulance drivers and paramedics have been located in Hereford and Worcestershire during each shift in Dec 08 versus Dec 07?

There are three more ambulance crews located in the two counties than there were a year ago.

7. How many WMAS 54 forms (signifying a critical incident) and ROSC forms (signifying a successful resuscitation) were raised in December 2007 versus December 2008 for Herefordshire and Worcestershire?

There were 30 WMAS 54 forms completed in December 2007, and only 15 in December 2008. Data on ROSC forms is not recorded.

8. How does staff sickness compare for the Bransford staff in these two periods?

9. Is it planned that meal breaks will soon become unpaid, and if so, what impact is that likely to have on staff availability?

10. How is the new computer dispatch system performing and can I see it in action?