East Midlands Ambulance Service declares business continuity incident following to 'sustained pressures' on services partly due to hot weather
The ambulance provider for Northamptonshire has declared a business continuity incident, following “sustained pressures” on its services, which it says the hot weather has contributed to.
East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) declared a business continuity incident at 7.15pm on Tuesday May 26. The incident is declared when services may be disrupted “below expected levels” and additional arrangements are required to maintain patient care.
The ambulance service says the move was made following sustained pressure on its services across the region, as demand for emergency care has increased in recent days, “including as a result of the hot weather, alongside wider pressures being experienced across the NHS”. Northamptonshire saw temperatures soar over the bank holiday weekend and on Tuesday as gauges reached over 30C.
EMAS will now take additional steps, working with NHS partners, to help ensure ambulance crews are available to respond to patients in the community, including supporting the timely handover of patients at hospital emergency departments, working with healthcare providers to ensure patients are directed to the most appropriate care and continuing to prioritise the most life-threatening and serious incidents.
A spokesperson for EMAS said: “We recognise this is challenging for our NHS partners, who are also working under significant pressure, and we are grateful for their continued support.
"Alongside this, EMAS is maximising available resources and reviewing how ambulance crews are deployed across the region.
"We will continue to monitor the situation closely, with a focus on maintaining safe patient care and returning to normal service levels as soon as possible.”
While the incident is ongoing, members of the public are asked to support the ambulance service during this period of high demand.
The EMAS spokesperson added: “Choosing the most appropriate service helps ensure our ambulance crews are available for those who may need them most.”
Residents are asked to call 999 when someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk.
If the condition is not life-threatening, other NHS services, including 111, local pharmacies, urgent treatment centres, GPs and GPs out of hours services may be able to assist, instead of 999 and the ambulance service.