Ambulance crews hit by freak rise in 999 callouts

Ambulance bosses in the North East and North Yorkshire say they are struggling to understand why they received so many emergency calls last week, but say the cold weather is not entirely to blame.

Figures from the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) show that paramedics were called to 26,032 incidents in December, an increase of more than 1,000 over last year.

The busiest period was the five hours from 10pm on Boxing Day, when NEAS received 1,317 calls – 842 more calls than the same time period last year, representing a 177 per cent increase in 999 ambulance demand.

In North Yorkshire, the ambulance service had its busiest two days of the year on Bank Holiday Monday and Tuesday, when more than 700 extra calls were received compared to the same two days last year.

A spokesman for NEAS said some of the spike in demand can be attributed to an increase in patients reporting respiratory problems, along with slips, trips and falls due to the recent cold weather.

Paul Liversidge, NEAS director of operations, said: “This is an unprecedented volume of calls relating to all sorts of reasons and difficult to understand why it happened.

“What I can say is that the NEAS staff working during this busy period were magnificent, despite the intense pressure.

They pulled out all the stops to ensure patients got an ambulance as quickly as possible.”

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said: “Bank Holiday Monday and Tuesday were our busiest days of the year so far and saw demand for our 999 service increase significantly.

“This has since eased but, with the New Year bank holiday fast approaching, we expect to see a repeat of these high call volumes which will again place pressure on the service.

“To help us to reach those genuinely in need as a priority, we ask that members of the public only call 999 in a medical emergency when someone is in need of time-critical help.”