Thousands of London’s 999 calls answered by other regions

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LAS redirected more than 12,000 calls in last two weeks to other ambulance services
Leaked data suggests around one in 10 calls over last fortnight redirected
SWAS has provided most aid since start of year, according to internal data

Thousands of calls have been redirected from London’s ambulance trust to providers in other regions in “unprecedented” levels of sustained support, leaked data has revealed.

According to internal data, obtained by HSJ, London Ambulance Service Trust redirected more than 12,800 emergency 999 calls to other ambulance trusts across the country. This includes just over 1,000 category one calls, which are those deemed immediately life-threatening.

LAS has faced immense pressure recently due to the covid-19 pandemic. Calls to its service have reached between 8,000 and 8,500 per day. Using this figure, HSJ has calculated it redirected around one in 10 of its calls in the last two weeks.

Additionally, NHS England data shows LAS received 8,349 category one calls during December. Comparing these figures to the redirect data, HSJ calculates around just over a fifth of the trust’s category one calls are now being answered by other services. However, the calls will have likely been diverted before they were categorised.

The leaked data showed South West Ambulance Service Foundation Trust has so far provided the most aid, receiving 2,667 calls since 30 December.

LAS has also been receiving support from non-NHS organisations, including St Johns Ambulance and the London Fire Brigade. There have also been reports of police officers driving ambulances in London, after London mayor Sadiq Khan declared a “critical incident” in the capital last week.

Mutual aid between ambulance trusts often occurs at times of pressure, and HSJ understands high levels of mutual aid usually happen during major incidents, such as terror attacks.

However, several sources have said it is incredibly unusual for such a sustained level of support to be provided over such a long period of time. One source called it “unprecedented”, although another added the level of aid offered was not yet “concerning”.

It is not possible to compare the mutual aid offered this winter to that of previous winters as this data is not published.

Ambulance Trust	Total 999 calls answered for LAS since 30 December	Category 1 calls	CARD (cardiac arrest) calls
South Western Ambulance Foundation Trust	2,667	445	28
West Midlands Ambulance Service Foundation Trust	2,278	127	87
East Midlands Ambulance Service Trust	2,264	172	37
North West Ambulance Service Trust	1,984	151	11
East of England Ambulance Service Trust	1,094	47	4
Yorkshire Ambulance Service Trust	1,070	96	19
South Central Ambulance Service Foundation Trust	936	39	27
South East Coast Ambulance Service Foundation Trust	343	12	0
Welsh Ambulance Trust	151	5	0
North East Ambulance Service Foundation Trust	36	0	1
Scottish Ambulance Service	0	0	0
Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Health and Social Care Trust	0	0	0

Other ambulance services are also facing high volumes of calls. Two weeks ago, WMAS reported experiencing its busiest day ever, with 5,383 calls. SECAMB has also declared several business continuity incidents over the last few weeks.

LAS was approached for comment.