Emergency crews reaching patients quicker

AMBULANCES are reaching patients quicker on their most urgent calls, new figures have revealed.

Statistics from the East of England Ambulance Service (EEAS) show paramedics are meeting their target for making three-quarters of calls involving Category A patients.

And the service expects further improvements as part of a new ambulance call system, which enables EEAS to deploy ambulances to East Cambridgeshire from anywhere across East Anglia.

“This new system will allow us to provide a better and more resilient service to patients and is another big step in moving the service forward,” director of service delivery Alan Murray said.

Chief Executive Officer Hayden Newton said the hitting of the Category A target was “fantastic news”.

He added: “It is incredibly gratifying to know that a lot of hard work by crews, area managers and our operational performance improvement team is really paying off. But most of all that our patients are seeing the benefit.”

EEAS was just 0.2 per cent away from achieving a target to transport 95 per cent of Category A patients within 19 minutes.

“This is of course not the result we would have ideally wanted for September but we are reaching the target year to date,” Mr Newton said.

“Major work in this area too has been well documented with more effective management, more appropriate care for minor incidents and more resources on the road than ever before.

“As with the eight minute performance I am confident we will see the benefit over the coming months as this work is established.”