The number of calls for an ambulance in England has almost doubled since 2010, with record pressures on the NHS that are seeing A&E patients trapped in the aisles and many paramedics leaving work.
Ambulance calls have increased 10 times more than the number of ambulance workers, according to a new analysis of NHS data. An increase in people seeking emergency treatment, GPs unable to meet demand and cuts in preventive care have been blamed on the figures.
The analysis, conducted by the GMB union, found that there were 7.9 million calls in 2010-11. By 2021-22, however, the figure had risen to 14 million, an increase of 77%. During the same period, the number of ambulance workers has only increased by 7%, increasing the pressure on staff.
While the figures represent all calls from an ambulance, some of which go unanswered and do not result in a vehicle being sent, they reveal the growing pressures that have led to the assertion that patient safety is at stake. danger due to ambulance waiting times. There has been a significant increase in the number of most serious security incidents reported by paramedics in England over the last year.
Ambulance workers will hold a rally on Sunday ahead of the annual GMB convention, which begins in Harrogate. There have been repeated warnings that cuts in social care are also having side impacts, and emergency services are often approaching and caring for patients in crisis.
The average response time for serious ambulance calls was 51 minutes in April 2022 compared to 20 minutes the previous year. Meanwhile, the GMB said more than 1,000 ambulance workers have left since 2018 to seek a better work-life balance, better pay or to retire early.
Paul, a paramedic and deputy secretary of the GMB branch, said he had recently seen a crew waiting almost 10 hours between arriving at the hospital and transferring a patient to hospital care. “They arrived at the hospital at 8:31 p.m.,” he said. “Then they left the hospital at 05.48 in the morning. The impact of the lack of resources is affecting the ambulance service.
“We’re also seeing people become aggressive with the ambulance crew, because they’ve waited hours and hours in an ambulance.
“We used to have a crew that we call ‘chains’: you join and you’ll be there for the rest of your life until you retire. a GP or becoming a university professor. No nights, no weekends; you’re in a nice, clean environment. “
It comes after a nurse was filmed warning patients in a saturated A&E department that they could wait up to 13 hours to see a doctor.
Rachel Harrison, GMB’s national official, said ambulance workers had been facing “more than a decade of cuts”. She said: “It is not uncommon for them to leave en masse while the service itself is on the verge of collapse. The explosion in demand is due to the savage cuts in essential services since 2010.
“Cuts in preventive and community care lead to increased demand for emergency services, including mental health. This means that patients enter the system later and with more complex symptoms. Some people also used less. hospital care during the pandemic and did not receive essential treatment, and this has led to a significant cumulative demand falling on ambulance workers.
“Our members face incredible stress and even abuse as they go out of their way to manage care and save lives. We need urgent investment in health and care services, otherwise we risk an unprecedented crisis.” .
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Welfare said they acknowledged the pressure on staff, with ambulance workers at the end. “Response times are affected by a number of factors, so we are taking a global approach to the system,” they said.
“NHS has allocated £ 150 million in additional funding for the system to deal with pressure on ambulance services, and we are addressing Covid’s backlog by setting up community surgical centers and diagnostic centers, more than 90 of which are already open and have delivered more than a million additional checks.
“NHS staff received a 3% pay rise last year, raising nurses’ salaries by around £ 1,000 on average despite the public sector wage freeze, and we are giving NHS workers another pay raise. you are this year “.