Alarming rise in ambulance response times

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AMBULANCE response times for emergency calls in the North West have shown an “alarming rise” over the last three years, according to a Warrington MP.
Median response times for category A calls – real emergencies – have risen from 4.2 minutes in April 2011 to 6.1 minutes in March this year.
Warrington North MP Helen Jones (pictured) discovered the figures following a Parliamentary question about the North West Ambulance Trust to the Department for Health.
The MP believes the figures should be of concern to everyone in Warrington.
She said: “If the median is rising it means many people are waiting for longer than this. Those few minutes can make the difference between life and death.
“I have the greatest respect for our ambulance crews who save lives everyday but they need to be given the right tools for the job.”
Ms Jones said she had written to the North West Ambulance Service to ask for an explanation of the figures and more details about response times.
She added: “David Cameron’s waste of £3 billion on a totally unnecessary reorganisation has taken money from our front-line services.
“ Patients and staff deserve investment to provide the best possible services but they are being let down by this government. “
Earlier this month, the GMB union – which represents many NHS staff – claimed day time ambulance cover in Warrington would be reduced as a result of £14 million cuts planned by the North West Ambulance Trust.
The union said the services would be cut at a time when the ambulance service had a £34 million underspend sitting in its bank.
Ray Carrick, the union’s regional officer, said the cutbacks would result in redundancies, reductions in night cover at Bury, Bolton, Carlisle and Wigan and removal of day vehicles from Warrington, Ellesmere Port, Formby, Blackpool and Burscough.


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Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.

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