Ambulance response times in Sutton and Merton are the best ever recorded, despite the increase in the amount of calls, figures released last week showed.
London Ambulance Service crews in the Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust area reached 75.27 per cent of patients in life-threatening condition within eight minutes, meeting the Government’s national performance target of 75 per cent. The figure across London was 75.5 per cent.
Across Sutton and Merton, crews attended 12,355 incidents, up 3.5 per cent on the previous year.
The improvement comes even though the clock used to measure the speed of response to a call changed in April 2008.
It now starts once the caller is connected to the control room, instead of after the caller’s details, location and nature of the illness or injury have been established.
Bill Arkell, ambulance operations manager, said: “Our recorded response times now start approximately two minutes earlier than they did, while our target of eight minutes remains unchanged – so patients are getting a better service from us.
“Along with increased speed, staff have worked hard to provide high quality care.
"We are looking to build on our success with 400 extra frontline staff so we can provide an even better service.
“We would ask people in Sutton and Merton to use their ambulance service wisely, only calling 999 in an emergency.”
Patients should consider other ways of getting help before dialling 999, such as looking after themselves at home, calling NHS Direct on 0845 4647, or even making their own way to hospital.
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