Review questions ability to answer 999 calls quickly

A report for NHS Improvement has found that the NHS’ ageing fleet and slow uptake of technology is limiting the ability of the NHS to answer 999 calls quickly.

With eight out of 10 services missing their seven-minute target for answering the most life-threatening emergencies in July, the review warns that it will be more difficult for ambulances to hit their targets if the current problems are not addressed.

Lord Carter, who carried out the review, has backed calls for an overhaul in approach to the productivity of the ambulance services, arguing that an ambulance is ‘not a taxi to A&E’ and stating that, with the use of modern technology, patients should often be treated at the scene.

However, the current ‘ageing ambulance fleet means that this is not always possible’. Lord Carter has therefore identified that tackling the current problems surrounding efficiency could save £500 million a year by 2021, which could then be reinvested in the service.

With demand predicted to increase by 38 per cent over the next 10 years, the review found that auto-dispatch technology to speed up responses to cardiac arrests was not yet fully implemented 12 years on and that the use of digital technology to access patients records remains in its infancy.

Furthermore, it discovered that a quarter of ambulances are more than seven years old and that there is a 50 per cent difference in costs between the most economical and least economical trusts per incident attended.