Ambulance calls double to almost 14 milliion

Posted by GMB Admin

Sunday 12 June 2022

GMB Trade Union - Ambulance calls double to almost 14 milliion

Ambulance calls have almost doubled to 14 million a year since 2010, GMB analysis shows.

In the financial year 2009/10 there were 7.9 million callouts, according to published NHS data. [1]

But by 2021/22 the number had rocketed to 14 million – an increase of 77 per cent. This was ten times faster than the increase in ambulance workers (up 7 per cent) over the same period.

Ambulance workers will today stage a demonstration outside GMB’s annual congress, which begins in Harrogate, Yorkshire.

The increase in pressures on ambulance workers are the result of cuts to other health and care services, GMB said.

The average response time for serious (Category 2) calls was 51 minutes in April 2022, compared to twenty minutes a year before.

Meanwhile, more than a thousand ambulance workers have left their jobs since 2018 to seek a better work life balance, better pay, or to take early retirement.

Rachel Harrison, GMB National Officer, said:

“Ambulance workers have faced more than a decade of cuts while demand has almost doubled.

“It’s no wonder they are leaving in droves while the service itself is teetering on the brink of collapse.

“The explosion in demand is due to savage cuts to essential services since 2010.

"GMB members tell us the pressures they face are the worst they have ever experienced.

“Our members face unbelievable stress and even abuse while they do their best to administer care and save lives.

“We need urgent investment across the health and care services, otherwise we risk an unprecedented crisis.”

	Total Ambulance calls	Of which, 111 calls transferred
2009/10	7.9	-
2010/11	8.1	-
2011/12	8.2	0.1
2012/13	8.5	0.2
2013/14	8.5	0.8
2014/15	9	1.1
2015/16	9.4	1.3
2016/17	9.8	1.5
2017/18	8.6	1.6
2018/19	11.7	1.7
2019/20	12.4	1.8
2020/21	11.4	1.9
2021/22	14	2.5