The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) has declared a 'critical incident' as extreme pressure on the service led to long delays for patients waiting for an ambulance.
The incident was declared this afternoon, Monday December 19, as a result of 'unprecedented pressure' impacting the ability of the service to respond to patients. More than 200 people experienced significant delays waiting for an ambulance, and there was additionally a reduction in ambulance crew availability due to delays in handing over patients at hospitals in the region.
Stephen Segasby, chief operating officer at North East Ambulance Service, said: “Our service is under unprecedented pressure. Declaring a critical incident means we can focus our resources on those patients most in need and communicates the pressures we are under to our health system partners who can provide support.
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“We are asking the public to call us only in a life-threatening emergency. For all other patients, we are urging them to use www.111.nhs.uk, speak to their GP or pharmacist.
“Our staff and volunteers continue to work extremely hard to respond to calls and incidents. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their hard work and commitment at this challenging time.”
The NEAS previously urged the public to "use the service wisely" during 24-hour strikes strikes by ambulance workers, which are set to take place on December 21 and 28. "NEAS is clear that we will not be able to respond to all calls of a serious nature and there are likely to be significant delays in response for patients who have to less serious illness or injury," the service warned.
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Stephen Segasby explained: “Our priority is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all our patients and staff. We have planned with great care for this strike, but our services will be extremely busy and we do expect them to be severely disrupted.
“We also anticipate that the days after the strike will be busy and as we head into an extended bank holiday over Christmas, we want to encourage people to use services wisely and prepare where possible. Ambulances will still be able to respond during the strike, but this will only be where there is an immediate risk to life.
“This means that less serious calls will not receive a response for the duration of the strike action and some patients might be asked to make their own way to hospital, where it is safe for them to so. Patients waiting for an ambulance should only call back if your symptoms worsen so that our health advisors are available to take new emergency calls or to cancel an ambulance if alternative transport has been arranged.”
The Trust has been operating at its highest level of operational alert since December 5. Declaring a critical incident allows NEAS to instigate several additional measures to protect patient safety, including:
- Seeking mutual aid
- Cancelling all training to allow for the redeployment of all clinical staff
- No longer taking bookings for urgent, non-emergency transportation
- Increasing third party provider provision
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