Secret plan to DOUBLE ambulance waiting times

NOVANEWS

Posted by: Sammi Ibrahem, Sr

Stroke and seizure patients could wait up to 19 minutes under new targets approved by NHS bosses

 

  • Ambulance crews are to be given more time to respond to incidents 
  • Secret memo revealed targets may be increased from eight to 19 minutes
  • ‘Red 2’ incidents, the second most serious, would be affected by change
  • Senior NHS doctors warned the scheme could risk patients’ lives
  • Comes as the emergency services face widespread crisis this winter
By PAUL CAHALAN and STEPHEN ADAMS FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
PUBLISHED: 22:00, 20 December 2014 

The Mail on Sunday has uncovered a secret plan to double the time ambulances can take to reach critically ill patients.

The current target is for an emergency vehicle to reach those in life-threatening situations within eight minutes.

But a document seen by this newspaper reveals that the target time to get to those suffering a range of serious problems including strokes and seizures is to be increased to 19 minutes.

Last night leading doctors said the scheme – designed to make it easier for ambulance services to hit targets they have missed for months – risked lives.

A memo obtained by the Mail on Sunday revealed ambulance waiting times across England and Wales could be increased under a new scheme (file image)

A memo obtained by the Mail on Sunday revealed ambulance waiting times across England and Wales could be increased under a new scheme (file image)

The astonishing memo – leaked by a whistleblower – reveals that the changes have been approved by NHS England, but bosses wanted implementation delayed until after the General Election in May.

However, they discussed bringing the plan forward at a series of secret high-level meetings, because of ‘unprecedented pressure’ on emergency services.

The revelations come as the NHS faces a wider winter crisis with top medics warning: ‘Don’t get ill this Christmas.’

According to the leaked document, drawn up by the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE), NHS England has agreed ‘in principle’ to relax the maximum ambulance wait for what are known as ‘Red 2’ incidents.

It stated the organisation ‘had a firm position that any changes would be made after the General Election’.

But earlier this month, Professor Keith Willett of NHS England called a series of tele-conferences to ‘scope the feasibility’ of relaxing the targets sooner, due to what the memo described as ‘unprecedented demand’.

Each year, ambulance services deal with almost three million Red 2 incidents, deemed to be ‘serious but not the most life-threatening’.

They include conditions such as strokes, seizures and many car crash situations.

The document - given to the Mail on Sunday by a whistleblower - revealed plans to lengthen waiting times

The document – given to the Mail on Sunday by a whistleblower – revealed plans to lengthen waiting times

The only higher category is Red 1 ‘immediately life threatening’ incidents – such as cardiac arrest, choking, and major bleeding – of which there are about 150,000 incidents a year.

Doctors say it is often very hard to tell if a situation is immediately life threatening or not over the phone.

Red 1 incidents are up 25 per cent compared to this time last year.

Eight of England’s regional ambulance services are at a ‘severe pressure’ alert level and the other two – London and Yorkshire’ – are ‘critical’. The only higher level is ‘service failure’.

Jeremy Hunt is running up the white flag

As a result of the closed-door tele-conferences, at which it was ‘explicitly stressed’ that discussions should remain secret, ambulance services will get more time to assess Red 2 calls.

They will get three minutes before the ‘clock starts’ on target times, rather than one minute as they do now. This change could be brought in during January.

This proposal and others ‘received approval’ from Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt last Monday, the memo states.

It means from January ambulances will have a total of 11 minutes to reach a Red 2 patient before breaching the Government target, rather than nine.

The plan to change target times to 19 minutes has yet to be agreed.

Last night, former NHS heart ‘tsar’ Professor Sir Roger Boyle, who helped halve deaths from heart attacks, said he believed the moves would ‘risk lives’.

‘The way to deal with the crisis is not to take longer to deal with the calls,’ he said.

The AACE argues relaxing waiting times will enable more fully equipped ambulances to be sent out first time, rather than ‘fast responder’ cars, which are sometimes sent out just to meet targets.

And it says giving more assessment time will also lead to ‘better decisions’ about what to send.

The NHS system is ‘creaking’ and ‘under pressure’

But a senior NHS clinician said: ‘This is a degradation of the response times standard for political purposes to get everybody out of a jam.’ Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham accused Mr Hunt of ‘moving the goalposts’ on ambulance waiting time targets.

The Red 1 target – of reaching 75 per cent of such patients in eight minutes – has not been met since April. The Red 2 target has not been met since January.

Mr Burnham said: ‘Rather than getting ambulance response times back up to established standards, it looks like he is running up the white flag.

‘Mr Hunt’s decision risks leaving thousands of seriously ill people waiting longer for ambulances this winter.’ Meanwhile, leading medics warned people to try to avoid ending up in hospital over Christmas if they could possibly help it. Prof Boyle said: ‘Don’t get ill over the next couple of weeks.’

He said that hospitals became ‘log-jammed’ over the extended break because it was even harder than normal to move elderly patients out of hospital, as social care workers were on holiday.

Dr Peter Carter, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said: ‘The people who are really going to feel it are older people – the frail elderly, perhaps with chest infections. These are the people who end up on trolleys for hours on end.’

Dr Mark Porter, chair of the British Medical Association, said the NHS gave ‘good service to the people of this country’.

But he added: ‘The fact that we can only do so, by running many hospitals on a continuous sense of crisis shows how close to the wire we are at all times.’

Amid the growing problems, virologists fear flu could soon worsen matters further, with pre-Christmas flu levels now at a three-year high, according to official figures.

Last night a Department of Health spokesman said that Mr Hunt had made ‘no decisions’ yet and that the ambulance service had been given an extra £50 million to cope with this winter.

Professor Willett, head of acute care for NHS England, said last night: ‘Any operational changes would need to be proposed by the senior doctors running ambulance services and agreed by the NHS nationally. 

‘No such decisions have been taken on their proposals, nor will they be until next year.’

My little Evie could have died if ambulance was delayed, by Prof Sir Roger Boyle

Prof Sir Roger Boyle warned the country needs more ambulances and paramedics on the road

Prof Sir Roger Boyle warned the country needs more ambulances and paramedics on the road

In May, just before her first birthday, my granddaughter Evie had a fit. Then she had a respiratory arrest.

South West Ambulance Service responded very, very promptly. They were there within four minutes.

Evie had to be fully resuscitated by paramedics, and they saved her life.

Had they taken longer to get to us, it is likely she would not have survived.

Her case could have been classed as an immediately life-threatening ‘Red 1’ call, or it might not have been.

It would probably have been classed as a lower priority ‘Red 2’ call, because Evie had a fit and the reason for her collapse was unspecified.

The 999 call handlers would not have been able to make the distinction with an extra two minutes of conversation on the phone.

‘Red 2’ incidents like fits and stroke are still life-threatening situations, and those few minutes can mean the difference between life and death.

The whole point of the National Stroke Strategy is that we should be treating stroke as an emergency. The time it takes to get treatment is as critical for stroke as it is for heart attack.

So I think loosening ambulance response times is going down a very dangerous path, and will risk lives. Furthermore, it’s an admission of defeat.

I have full sympathy with the ambulance services – they are under major pressure. But the way to deal with the crisis is not to take longer to deal with calls.

Just as we need more beds and staff in hospitals, so we need more ambulances and paramedics on the road.

This problem gets straight to the nub of where we are with the NHS at the moment.

Historically, international comparisons show that – in terms of national health care institutions – the NHS is the best in the world.

But it’s running into serious trouble. Not enough money is being pumped in to keep pace with ever-rising demand. Disastrous reforms brought in by former Health Secretary Andrew Lansley have not helped.

We need to invest more in the health service to get the show back on the road. But is the Government prepared to do that?

Evie is now 19 months old and a beautiful, healthy toddler. Yesterday, she and her parents came over for tea.

As a family we cannot thank the ambulance service enough for being there, the very minute we needed them.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *