An NHS ambulance service is cutting back its presence at Gatwick airport and major sports events so it has more crews available to answer 999 calls, amid unprecedented pressures.
The South East Coast ambulance service (Secamb) has ended a longstanding arrangement under which Gatwick paid it to have an ambulance car and paramedic on site.
It has also decided to limit the number of ambulances and paramedics on standby to deal with medical emergencies at Premier League club Brighton and Hove Albion’s Amex Stadium and Goodwood racecourse in West Sussex. It may do the same in other places.
Secamb’s move has prompted speculation that other ambulance services may reduce or end resources at mass spectator events and focus on “core” work. England’s 10 regional ambulance services are under pressure to speed up response times, which have been growing across England, and tackle the growing number of patients who have to wait hours for a crew to arrive, despite in some cases suffering a life-threatening emergency.
For many years Gatwick paid Secamb to have an ambulance car and paramedic at the airport, providing medical cover at both its terminals. The arrangement ended in 2020 when the Covid pandemic saw passenger numbers plummeting. With more people travelling again, Gatwick wanted to restart the service but Secamb declined, citing the need to concentrate on providing speedy care for the population it serves across Kent, Surrey, Sussex and north-east Hampshire.
Secamb confirmed it was examining the level of cover it provided at mass gatherings and events in stadiums to concentrate on improving its response times to 999 calls. It now only has one ambulance and one member of staff on duty at the Amex Stadium. Sources at Secamb said organisations affected by its rethink would have to increase private medical cover from other providers.
“Recognising the challenges that we, along with other ambulance trusts, are facing currently, we are reviewing the private medical cover contracts we have to ensure we provide a fair and equitable service to all, regardless of where people are in our region,” a trust spokesperson said.
“We will be keeping the matter under review and would like to reassure anyone attending the locations affected by these changes that they will continue to receive emergency medical help if needed.”
The Unison union, which represents 400,000 NHS staff including ambulance personnel, backed Secamb’s move. “Football grounds and racecourses should be providing their own medical cover on site, freeing up hard-pressed crews to focus on 999 callers in desperate need of their help,” said Josh Cooper, Unison’s south-east regional organiser.
“Before the pandemic, less stretched ambulance services often provided cover for sports events. But now the system is under such intense strain they can barely cover emergency calls, let alone anything else.”
One Secamb paramedic claimed that the loss of the Gatwick ambulance car would prove counterproductive, as the service now has to send personnel to every emergency. Speaking anonymously, the paramedic said: “Most of the jobs at the airport were falls, drunks and minor wounds, so they could either be dealt with and sent off on holiday or asked to get a cab to the local hospital without the use of an ambulance. Now the airport will call 999 and an ambulance will have to attend, adding to workload.”
He said that on a recent Saturday evening Secamb had to dispatch an ambulance to Gatwick after each of four different calls, which turned out to be all about the same medical situation. “If the ‘Gatso’ ambulance care had still been there then the four jobs could have been dealt with by whoever was on duty.”
NHS England declined to comment.
