Ambulance endangers 40,000 patients in record heat wave

Delays in emergency services put 40,000 patients at risk in Britain’s record July heatwave.

Shocking figures revealed by the Association of Emergency Management Executives (AACE) show the NHS is ‘on its knees’ even without a Covid surge.

An analysis found that around 39,000 patients may have been “hit” in July after an infection delay of more than an hour in hospitals.

The number is 11% higher than the previous month, when 34,000 patients were potentially affected, The Telegraph reports.

In July, hours lost due to 15-minute delays in out-of-hospital transfers totaled 152,000 hours, of which 46,089 hours were greater than one hour.

AACE figures also show that 999 call response time was the slowest on record in the first scorching summer, with the average response time exceeding one minute for the first time.

Responses to emergency calls took an average of 64 seconds. This is almost double the normal 28 seconds in June.

The West Midlands Ambulance Service said the delays have killed 68 people since April.

In some cases, patients wait until 5:00 pm to receive emergency medical assistance.

Murray McGregor, a spokesman for the West Midlands Ambulance Service, told ITV on Thursday that the strain on the health and social care systems is causing a domino effect of problems for the NHS.

He warned that hospitals were no longer able to discharge patients quickly enough, leading to patients staying longer in the ER and ambulances being stranded before moving patients.

Last week the West Midlands Ambulance Service confirmed:

“However, the number of hospital handover delays currently occurring every day in the region means the Trust is unable to respond to patients in time as crews delay patient care for hospital staff. . . .

A horror story for the NHS during the torrential weather in July included one of the ambulance crews being forced to wait 26 hours outside a hospital. I have been waiting for 48 hours.

Workers warned they were under “serious pressure” as the country scorched with record temperatures, but another crew member said he experienced an eight-hour delay at a hospital in June.

Kevin Fairfax of the Yorkshire Ambulance Service, who is also Unison’s branch secretary, said the delay was taking a toll on the mental health of his staff.

He added: My members cannot cope, they are suffering mentally. We are in the NHS for the patients, not for the money. We are here to help. Sick people get worse. It’s terrifying to watch. It should be the price of life.

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