Increase funding for our Ambulance Services

999 Demand is rising fast. In 2005 Ambulance Services received around 5 million calls. In 2015 they received over 9 million.

Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) statistics show that the number of Qualified Ambulance Staff on the frontline only increased by 283 over the same period. It is recorded that there were 17417 Qualified Ambulance Staff in 2005 and 17700 in 2015 over a period where demand increased by over 4 million calls per year.

The government correctly states that there are over 2000 more Paramedics in the NHS now than in 2010 but many of these staff were already counted in the Qualified Ambulance Staff bracket, having previously been Emergency Medical Technicians. Also, many newly qualified Paramedics simply fill vacant positions created by Paramedics who are leaving the service at a rate of around 1000 per year.

Paramedics who are leaving the service often cite the stress and pressure associated with the high demand as a contributory factor to their decision to leave. Staff often work long shifts (10 or 12 hours) without rest breaks or with only a short rest break taken after hours of back to back jobs. On most shifts there are already calls waiting when ambulance crews become available again after an emergency call. They often work longer than their contracted hours due to calls that take them over their finishing time.

A growing number of people are calling 999 with conditions which could be more appropriately managed in the Primary Care setting, such as their GP Surgery. Patients are reporting difficulties with arranging routine appointments because of the pressure on other areas of the NHS. Historically, these patients have been transported to A+E like any other 999 case even though they do not necessarily have an acute medical problem which requires emergency treatment. Now the focus is on taking healthcare to the patient in order to reduce unnecessary A+E attendances. Over the last decade, ambulance staff have taken on extra skills, responsibilities and autonomy in order to assist them with recognising, treating and referring these patients to the most appropriate alternative care pathways rather than using A+E by default. Entrance into the profession is now via higher education, with student Paramedics attaining degree level qualifications. Some Paramedics have also undertaken further education and training in order to work in more advanced roles, such as Critical Care or Urgent Care Practitioners. This might mean they are able to provide more advanced care in an emergency, prescribe antibiotics for minor ailments or suture minor injuries without the patient needing to attend A+E.

All but one of our Ambulance Services have reportedly failed to hit government imposed response time targets recently. Because of the high demand, the government are changing response time targets so that Ambulance Services now have longer to assess calls which are not deemed immediately life threatening and longer to respond to them. Conditions such as Chest Pain and Difficulty in Breathing, which used to have an 8 minute response time, may now have a 19 minute response time in order for the Ambulance Services to identify and allocate the most appropriate resources rather than focussing solely on the response time.

A number of media outlets have also reported that ambulances are often unable to respond to emergencies due to the length of time they are queuing to handover patients at A+E departments. Hospital handover and ambulance turnaround times are strictly monitored and partnership systems have been implemented to try and speed up the process.

Despite these changes and initiatives, statistics show that our Ambulance Services are still struggling to keep up with demand and staff are feeling the pressure. Are our Ambulance Services in a position to take up the strain of other areas of the NHS without further investment?

Ambulance Services are doing their best to innovate and make the best use of the resources at their disposal. More funding would allow Ambulance Services to increase the number of staff and resources, try new initiatives in order to meet the high demand, reduce the burden on already over crowded A+E departments, relieve the pressure on ambulance staff who are trying to keep up with demand, improve patient satisfaction and could ultimately save lives.

If you agree that the government should provide more funding for our Ambulance Services, please sign the petition.