A recent Freedom of Information request has shown current ambulance handover targets are failing, with a huge rise in the number of patients stuck in ambulances outside hospitals. The amount of patients waiting over an hour to be transferred from an ambulance to A&E has doubled also.
‘Bed-blocking’ has also been on the rise with it rising by half in the past three years. Practitioners have said that this could be a contributing factor to the problems with transferring patients from ambulances to a hospital bed.
The King’s Fund recently released their figures, which raised concerns about ambulance waiting times also. Their data shows that performance is poor, with more than 30 per cent of calls responded to after 8 minutes.
These figures come at an unfortunate time with winter on its way. Therefore, it is critical that something is done to help ambulance handover delays, so no significant harm is put to patients.
