I recently visited our local East Midlands Ambulance Service HQ, and met with some of our excellent ambulance crews. I also sat down with Sue Cousland, the General Manager of the Lincolnshire Division, who updated me on progress with service improvements.
Ever since I was elected, I have been concerned about EMAS performance, particularly in terms of response times. I have seen this myself as an NHS doctor, and have consistently raised this with ministers, with EMAS and in the House of Commons.
I have welcomed the additional funding given to EMAS for improvements, and I am delighted to see that this has been used to deliver more ambulances (140 extra by the end of March), more frontline staff (around 300 more by the end of this financial year), and improvements in the control centre. They are also doing excellent research work into key areas like the treatment of sepsis, which is hugely valuable.
There has been a significant improvement in response times. EMAS is now meeting the national standard for Category 1 calls (the most serious, for people with life-threatening illnesses or injuries), arriving in an average of seven minutes.
There is still work to do, but I am very glad that improvements are being made. I will continue to keep a close eye on performance, and push for continuing progress to ensure that my constituents have a reliable ambulance service when they need it most.
