Gloucestershire Ambulances Missing Response Targets
Ambulance services in Gloucestershire are failing to hit crucial response time targets. Recent data from the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) reveals significant delays, partly caused by ambulances queuing outside Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. This bottleneck stops crews from reaching new emergencies fast enough.
Response Times Shockingly Slow
- Category 1 Incidents (e.g., cardiac arrest): Target 8 mins; Actual 10 mins
- Category 2 Incidents (e.g., burns, epilepsy, stroke): Target 18 mins; Actual 41 mins
- Category 3 Incidents (e.g., early labour): Target 120 mins; Actual 132 mins
Between April and June, Category 2 calls took an average 41 minutes to respond to—more than double the 18-minute target. Rural areas were hit hardest, with some calls waiting over an hour for help.
Local Officials Blast NHS for Sluggish Service
Councillor Paul Hodgkinson, part of Gloucestershire’s health scrutiny committee, slammed the worsening situation. “This whole thing is going round in circles, it’s not getting better,” he said. “We need reassurance these figures will improve, because right now they’re getting worse.”
Dr Simon Opher, Stroud MP and GP, pinpointed hospital bed shortages as the root cause. “Patients who could be discharged home are still occupying beds. That’s the problem—we need to unblock that.”
ICB Promises Action to Speed Things Up
An NHS Integrated Care Board spokesperson admitted delays are unacceptable. They emphasized collaboration between health and social care teams to clear patient backlogs. The introduction of an integrated flow hub at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital aims to speed up decisions and hasten discharges.
“We recognise too many people are waiting too long. We’re committed to improving patient flow in and out of hospital to get ambulances moving quicker,” the spokesperson said.
