Ambulance calls have increased 10 times more than the number of ambulance workers, according to a new analysis of NHS data. The increase in people seeking emergency care, GPs unable to meet demand and cuts in preventive care are responsible for the data. The analysis, conducted by the GMB association, found that there were 7.9 million calls in 2010-11. By 2021-2022, however, the number had grown to 14 million, an increase of 77%. During the same period, the number of ambulance workers increased by only 7%, putting more pressure on staff. While the numbers represent all ambulance calls, some of which remain unanswered and do not lead to vehicle dispatch, they reveal growing pressures that have led to claims that patient safety is at stake due to ambulance waiting times. There has been a significant increase in the number of most serious safety incidents recorded by paramedics in England in the past year. Ambulance workers will be protesting Sunday outside the GMB’s annual conference, which begins in Harrogate. There have been repeated warnings that cuts in social care are also having a devastating effect, with emergency services often taking over the relief and treating patients in crisis. The average response time for serious ambulance calls was 51 minutes in April 2022 compared to 20 minutes a year earlier. GMB, meanwhile, said more than 1,000 ambulance workers have left since 2018 to seek a better work-life balance, better pay or early retirement. Paul, a GM paramedic and deputy branch secretary, said he recently saw a crew wait nearly 10 hours between arriving at the hospital and transporting a patient to hospital. “They arrived at the hospital at 20.31,” he said. “Then they left the hospital at 05.48 in the morning. The impact of lack of resources is affecting ambulance service. “We also see people becoming aggressive in the ambulance crew because they waited for hours in an ambulance. We had a crew we called “lifelong” – you become a member and you are there for the rest of your life until you retire. But now we see people doing two or three years and then going to better jobs – maybe becoming a general practitioner or becoming university lecturers. There are no nights, there are no weekends. you are in a nice, clean environment. ” It comes after a nurse was filmed warning patients in an overcrowded A&E department that they could wait up to 13 hours to see a doctor. Rachel Harrison, a GMB national officer, said ambulance workers had faced “cuts for more than a decade”. He said: “It is not surprising that they leave in a row while the service itself is on the verge of collapse. The surge in demand is due to wild cuts in basic services since 2010. “Cuts in preventive and community care are resulting in greater demand for emergency services, including mental health. This means that patients enter the system later and with more complex symptoms. Some people also used less hospital care during the pandemic and did not receive effective treatment, which led to a significant limited demand for ambulance workers. “Our members face incredible stress, even abuse, while doing everything they can to provide care and save lives. “We need urgent investment in health and care services, otherwise we risk an unprecedented crisis.” A spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare said they acknowledged the pressure on staff, with ambulance workers at the sharp end. “Response times are influenced by a variety of factors, so we follow a whole system approach,” they said. “The NHS has provided 150 150 million in additional funding to address the pressure on ambulance services and we are tackling the unfulfilled Covid by setting up surgical nodes and community diagnostic centers – over 90 of which are already open and have delivered over one million extra checks. . “NHS staff received a 3% pay rise last year, increasing nurses’ salaries by about £ 1,000 on average, despite the freezing of public sector wages, and we’re giving NHS employees another pay raise this year.”
