Ambulances break down an average of 19 times a day, Liberal Democrats analysis says

Ambulance breakdowns can leave patients stranded and hurt. Photo: ZarkePix/Alamy Stock Photo

The number of ambulance breakdowns increased by almost 40. cent over five years, leaving patients at risk of «getting stuck waiting for pain,» according to the Liberal Democrats' analysis.

The Liberal Democrats said the numbers were generated using the Freedom of Information Act and show it. In 2018, there were 5,159 breakdowns of ambulances in England, and in 2022 this number increases to 7,060 annually, that is, last year, breakdowns occurred on average 19 times a day.

Party Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper said the numbers are «further proof that the Conservatives have driven our NHS into disarray.»

Requests for information about the outages were sent to 11 NHS trusts , the party said. six provided information.

Of the 10 trusts that provided information on the age of ambulances, six confirmed that they had vehicles older than 12 years old, the Liberal Democrats said, and in total, these trusts have about 250 ambulances older than 10 years old.

< p>According to the Liberal Democrats, the London ambulance service NHS Trust had an ambulance 14 years ago and also accounted for 3,800 breakdowns in 2022. But the trust also had the most ambulances of all the trusts that provided the data. /p>

Ms. Cooper said: «Patients with life-threatening injuries are at risk of being left stranded waiting for an ambulance due to poor management by conservatives and neglect of our medical services.»

«To end this confusion, liberal Democrats are calling on the government to provide the funding our emergency services need to keep ambulances on the roads.”

Misleading and outdated

Department of Health A spokesman for Social Care said: “This data is misleading and out of date. The latest figures show a reduction in ambulance response times despite record ambulance attendance and demand for July.

«We are working to bring 800 new ambulances to the road, create 5,000 additional hospital beds and increase the number of virtual rooms within our emergency and emergency care plan to further reduce patient waiting times.

“We have opened four new ambulance centers with two more due to open this summer, which will help improve efficiency and get ambulances back on the road faster so they can reach the people who need them as quickly as possible.”

Rakesh Patel, Chief Financial Officer and Fleet Manager for the London Ambulance Service, said: “We are investing a record amount in providing new modern and greener vehicles within three years: 128 new ambulances, 65 new hybrid ambulances, 44 electric vehicles and three electric motorcycles ply the capital.

“London Ambulance Service, the busiest ambulance service in the country with four million calls annually, relies on a large fleet.

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“While this higher number of vehicles explains to some extent why the service reports proportionally more vehicle breakdowns (and why we have dedicated mechanics and workshops across London), we are proud to invest so heavily funds to our new fleet.”