BHF comment
BHF responds to ‘distressing’ average ambulance response times for heart attacks and strokes
We’ve called for urgent action as figures for December revealed average ambulance response times of over 90 minutes for heart attacks and strokes in England.
The target response time for a category 2 call (which includes heart attacks and strokes) is 18 minutes.
However, the latest data from NHS England showed that it took over three-and-a-half hours to respond to 10 per cent of category 2 calls in December.
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, our Associate Medical Director, said: “The difference between life and death can be a matter of minutes when someone is having a heart attack or stroke.
"That’s why it’s incredibly distressing that we keep hearing stories of 999 calls left unanswered, hours-long waits for ambulances, patients stuck in ambulance queues outside hospitals, and tragically even deaths when the chance for heart treatment came too late.
“Extreme delays to emergency heart and stroke care cannot become a new normal.
"Healthcare staff are doing all they can, but there aren’t enough of them and many will be working in difficult conditions without fit-for-purpose facilities.
"There is no single quick and easy solution but there is a path out of this cardiovascular crisis if the Government supports the NHS to deliver on what heart patients want and need."