Ambulances took almost 10 minutes on average to attend most serious emergencies in Berwick area in the last year, data reveals

This is over two minutes longer than the average response time for category 1 – an immediate response to a life-threatening condition – within the area covered by the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS), which is seven minutes and 39 seconds.

The national standards state that ambulances should respond to category 1 calls within seven minutes.

However, Berwick compared better than the regional average for the other categories. For category 2 (serious but no immediate risk to life) the average response time in the area over the last 12 months was 30 minutes, 50 seconds compared to an average within the NEAS area of 45 minutes, 6 seconds.

For category 3 (urgent) for Berwick it was 44 minutes, 58 seconds and the NEAS average was two hours, six minutes and one second.

For category 4 (non-urgent) for Berwick it was one hour, 31 minutes and 46 seconds and the NEAS average was one hour, 57 minutes and 49 seconds.

The data was obtained by Coun Georgina Hill, county councillor for Berwick East, via a freedom of information request to NEAS. She has repeatedly asked for a breakdown of the response time data by geographic area rather than just the average times across the region.

Her request asked for the ‘average response time for ambulances to attend call outs made for incidents in areas which have a TD15 postcode in the last 12 months (9th April 2022 - 9th April 2023)’.

Coun Hill said: “Quite obviously, every second counts in an emergency situation so it is very worrying that the average category 1 response time is almost three minutes longer here than the national standard target and over two minutes longer than the average for the region.

“Of course, while nine minutes and 46 seconds is the average, some patients will be waiting for an ambulance even longer – which could easily constitute a catastrophic delay.

“The NEAS will probably point out that these figures compare favourably with the national average and the response times are a lot worse in many other parts of the country but that is of scant consolation. I look forward to hearing how they plan to bring down response times.

“It is disappointing that I had to submit an FOI request to get this breakdown. The NEAS should be much more transparent in the data they supply so residents can see how quickly ambulances respond in their particular locality.”

She added that measures which could help bring down response times include reducing handover delays and increasing capacity.

Victoria Court, deputy chief operating officer for NEAS, said: “We work hard to reach those patients most in need within the best possible timeframe, but understand the frustration felt when we are not always able to do this.

“Over the last 12 months, we have continued to face unprecedented pressure on our service, leading to some patients waiting longer than we would like. The reasons for this pressure are varied but include more patients presenting with serious illnesses and life-threatened conditions, more people calling the ambulance service because they are having difficulties accessing more appropriate parts of the health service and pressure at our regional hospitals leading to handover delays.

“The nature of some of our rural locations can make it harder for us to meet response time standards due to the distance our resources need to travel. In Berwick, this is compounded by the nearest emergency department being around 60 miles away, resulting in our ambulance crews being taken out of the area for a considerable period if their patient requires emergency hospital treatment.

“To try and mitigate potential delays to patients caused by these challenges, we introduced the Berwick community paramedic scheme in 2019, which has seen our response times improve significantly in the Berwick area.

“We publish our response data at a locality level in line with national guidance. We would be happy to meet with Coun Hill to discuss her concerns in more detail and explain how we are trying to meet the challenges we face in her area.”

Coun Hill will be holding a surgery for residents this Saturday (April 29) at St John’s Church, Spittal, between 2pm and 4pm.