Councillor Alan Hall, Chair of Lewisham Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee, called in the London Ambulance Service this week to respond and explain why ambulance service response times are slower in Lewisham than those in neighbouring boroughs.
At a Town Hall scrutiny meeting on Tuesday 19th July London Ambulance Service’s Assistant Director of Operations Graham Norton told Cllr Alan Hall and other committee members that ambulance response times have started to improve and will continue to improve as a result of a recruitment drive, measures taken to improve staff morale and other operational and training initiatives.
Councillor Alan Hall said: “We cannot accept second best in Lewisham and we are therefore pleased to receive the evidence and assurances from the London Ambulance Service that services are improving.
“It was a real concern that Lewisham was getting a poorer ambulance service than other parts of London, falling behind neighbouring boroughs in response times to immediate life threatening incidents. I will ensure we monitor this improvement carefully”
“I know that the crews are dedicated and hard working. They know the challenges they face daily. We are looking for operational and financial changes to support them in their vital work and glad that these have been implemented.”
Between January and April 2016, 57.5% of ambulance responses to category A incidents in Lewisham were within the target time of eight minutes. This was more than ten percentage points below the target of 70% and the best performing area in south-east London.
Notes to Editors:
The officer analysis and council report including statistics are here
The latest LAS Care Quality Commission inspection report is here
Picture: Asst Commissioner Graham Norton, Cllr Alan Hall, Philip Powell – LAS Stakeholder Manager.