Tom Peterkin, of Hackleton, followed his partner to NGH where she was taken by ambulance after suffering chest pains.

However on arrival, he saw a total of six patients, including his partner, on trolleys with paramedic crews and who could not be handed over to overrun A&E staff.

Mr Peterkin said: “The paramedic told us there were nine ambulances on duty for the Northampton area at the time, so that was two thirds of the available crews unable to go anywhere. They were monitoring us, which was the right thing to do, but it was ridiculous that she was taking up their trolley and equipment so they couldn’t go to another 999 call.

via Northampton Chronicle & Echo.

Mr Davies called the meeting following two cases in the county involving the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust.

An inquest into the death of Jacqueline Davies, 49, from Monmouth, heard she died in hospital froma hypoxic brain injury and probable pneumonia on January 20 last year after collapsing at her home nine days earlier. But the coroner also heard bad weather, problems handing patients over at hospitals and a high call volume meant there were no ambulances free to attend Ms Davies, and emergency services took more than 41 minutes to reach her.

via Free Press Series.

The anonymous staff member also claimed that local crews were being sent elsewhere in the region to help those areas meet response targets.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service said the service was not over stretched and lives were not at risk.

Watch the video at BBC News

Crews are given a target of half an hour to drop off patients.

But figures from the West Midlands Ambulance Service show in the first nine months of the year, ambulances sat outside the University Hospital of North Staffordshire’s unit for a total of 350 hours above the guideline – the equivalent of 14 and a half days.

The figures, obtained by a Sentinel Freedom of Information request, reveal the wait at Stafford Hospital was 427 hours over the same period.

In 2010, the lost time amounted to 256 hours at the Hartshill unit and 400 at Stafford and in 2009, it was just 193 and 194 hours respectively.

The University Hospital brings in 42 per cent of its 100,000-plus annual patients by ambulance.

It had its worst month in June when 63.5 hours ticked by as ambulances stood outside the Princes Road unit instead of being on emergency calls.

via This is Staffordshire.

Data provided by the 11 ambulance services showed all are experiencing difficulties handing over patients.

Hospitals are supposed to take charge of them within 15 minutes of the ambulance arriving, but some are missing this in over half of cases.

Waits of an hour are even being experienced at times, delaying crews from attending other 999 calls.

It means paramedics are left waiting with their patients in hospital corridors or stuck in their vehicles until a nurse or doctor can take the person off their hands.

via BBC News

Temporary diversions are designed to allow hospitals the chance to clear backlogs of patients and free up staff.

West Midlands Ambulance Service and the four major hospitals in the Black Country – New Cross, Wolverhampton, Russells Hall, Dudley, Walsall Manor and Sandwell – have agreed a deal.

via Express & Star.

Health chiefs were today investigating after Louise Lewis, 36, called 999 when she was struck down with stabbing chest pains.

An operator told the mother-of-two, from Llanelli, South Wales, that an ambulance was on its way but couldn’t say how long it would take.

via Mail Online.

It is thought Doreen Wignall fell on black ice causing a head injury as she crossed a bridge in Ludgershall, Wiltshire.

via Mail Online.

In two months, 671 patients – an average of 11 a day – waited longer than the government-set target time in our area.

Breaches have more than quadrupled from the 119 recorded in the same period last year.

Trust managers have now nominated special ‘queue nurses’ who take patients from ambulance crews, freeing up the paramedics to return to duty.

They are also working with South Central Ambulance NHS Trust who are using a ‘split crew’ system in which only one worker stays with the patient.

This means their partner can team up with another ambulance and reduce the number of vehicles queuing outside the hospital.

via Portsmouth Today .

Kenneth France, aged 76, from Kingsley, who has dementia and cannot walk unaided after two minor strokes, is confined to his armchair.

He fell at about 11.30am on Friday and his wife and carer, Annie, was unable to pick him up.

She dialled 999 to ask help from an ambulance crew but, after telling the operator that he had not broken any bones and was not bleeding, she was told by a triage nurse he was not a priority case.

Read full article: Family’s concern over 999 response to call – Northampton Chronicle and Echo.