Ambulance wait times in Northampton referenced at Prime Minister’s Questions as Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer clash

Ambulance wait times in Northampton were referenced in a Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) debate as Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer clashed.

In Wednesday’s PMQs (January 18), Labour leader, Keir Starmer, began a debate about the long ambulance wait times by asking the Prime Minister how long a patient would be expected to wait after calling 999.

The Government's target for an ambulance to arrive is 18 minutes but the average wait time in Northampton - according to NHS Digital data - is two hours and 17 minutes. Mr Starmer referenced these wait times in his question to the Prime Minister.

Following the mention of Northampton on the national stage, Lucy Rigby, Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for Northampton North said: “Unfortunately Northampton was mentioned in Parliament today for all the wrong reasons. No one wants to hear Northampton used as an example of where ambulance waiting times are particularly bad.

“Northampton residents are waiting longer than ever before for ambulances, at A&E departments or to access their GP and we have to end this crisis before there are more tragic consequences.”

What was said in PMQs?

Keir Starmer said: “It’s three minutes past 12, if somebody phones 999 because they have chest pain and fears it might be a heart attack… For the person suffering from chest pains the clock started ticking straight away, every minute counts. That’s why the Government says an ambulance should be there in 18 minutes, in that case it should be about 12.20pm.

“If our heart attack victim had called for an ambulance in Peterborough at 12.03pm it wouldn’t arrive until 2.10pm. These are our constituents waiting for ambulances.

“If it was Northampton, it wouldn’t arrive until 2.20pm, if they were in Plymouth, it wouldn’t arrive until 2.40pm. Someone who fears a heart attack is waiting more than two-and-a-half hours for an ambulance.

“It’s not that worst case scenario, it’s just the average wait. So for one week will he stop blaming others, take some responsibility and just admit that under his watch the NHS is in crisis - isn’t it?”

The PM said his Government will improve ambulance times “as we recover from the pandemic and pressures from this winter” and that “measures are being implemented to improve wait times”.

The Conservative party leader said: “The NHS is dealing with unprecedented challenges recovering from Covid, dealing with an early flu season and everyone is doing their best to bring those wait times down.

“We are investing more in urgent and emergency care to create more bed capacity, we are ensuring that the flow of patients through emergency care is faster than it ever has been, we’re discharging people at a record rate out of hospital to ease the constraints they are facing, and we are reducing the call out rates by moving people out of ambulance stacks to be dealt with in the community. These are all very practical steps that will help in the short term.”

Mr Sunak also asked Mr Starmer why his party will not support the Government’s minimum safety legislation, which are laws to allow the Government to to set minimum levels of service that must be met during strikes “to ensure public safety”.