Minister vows to investigate MP's claim that patient had 14-hour ambulance wait

The North East Ambulance Service has introduced new system to respond better to emergencies

Philip Dunne, Minister of State, Department of Health, said he would look into specific cases in response to a question from Hartlepool’s MP Mike Hill in Parliament.

During a debate in the House of Commons on the winter health crisis facing the NHS, Mr Hill told of a constituent who reportedly waited 14 hours for an ambulance after a fall on New Year’s Day.

Hartlepool MP Mike Hill. Picture by FRANK REID

He asked the minister: “What are the Government doing about the crisis in the ambulance service?”

Mr Dunne said a new system for responding to calls for an ambulance have been introduced to reach emergencies more quickly.

He said: “It is in the early stages of introduction in many areas, and we have yet to be able to analyse its impact.

“If my honourable friend would like to write to me about the specific case he mentions, I would be happy to look into it for him.”

The North East Ambulance Service is among those taking part in the programme which replaces previous target response times with four categories of call urgency.

They range from life-threatening category 1 calls which the service aims to respond to in an average of seven minutes, to less urgent category 4 calls where the patient may be given advice over the phone or referred to a GP or pharmacist.

Mr Hill MP added: “Longs waits like this for ambulances are unacceptable and can clearly have an adverse effect on a patient’s wellbeing.

“They certainly haven’t got off to a good start in Hartlepool and the North East as they were introduced here in October last year, yet two months later incidents like the one I raised in the House were still occurring.

“I will take the Minister up on the offer of raising this case with him and I will also be raising it with NEAS, but I remain to be convinced about the effectiveness of this new approach to response times although I appreciate we are in the early stages of implementation.”

Last week, NEAS announced it was operating at its highest level due to unprecedented demand. It was reduced to its previous level on Friday.

In November, the Mail reported on pensioner Georgina Allen, 68, who waited eight hours for an ambulance after a fall.

Mrs Allen sadly later died in hospital.