'Uber ambulance crisis': seriously ill patients giving up using ambulance to get to Yorkshire hospitals
There is an “Uber ambulance crisis”, the Liberal Democrats have said, as more and more patients are travelling to hospital outside of an emergency vehicle.
NHS England data shows that 79 per cent of people using accident and emergency (A&E) services arrived on foot, via public transport, in a taxi or car in 2023-24.
Now a series of freedom of information (FoI) requests has found that a growing number of these people, not using ambulances, are the sickest patients, including in Yorkshire.
Thirty trusts responded to the Lib Dems, with figures showing that the number of A&E attendances of those not arriving in an ambulance had risen by 14 per cent since 2019.
This included an increase in Code 1 and Code 2 arrivals, which are patients deemed in the most serious medical need.
Code 1 covers those in need of immediate medical attention, including those in need of immediate resuscitation, while Code 2 includes those in need of “very urgent medical attention”.
At Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the number of Code 1 patients not arriving in an ambulance almost doubled between 2019 and 2024.
The number of Code 2 patients arriving by car, taxi or other private means increased from 618 to 6,540.
Worryingly many of those patients were aged over 65, with the number of pensioners arriving at A&E by other means over that time increasing from 298 to 3,619.
At Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, the only other Yorkshire NHS trust to respond to the FoI, the number of Code 1 arrivals increased very slightly, from 44 to 50.
The number of Code 2 patients not arriving in an ambulance more than quadrupled.
Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson Helen Morgan said: “These figures lay bare an Uber ambulance crisis, where people do not think they can rely on ambulance services even in the most serious of circumstances.
“This could have deadly consequences if people have lost faith that ambulances will be there when they need them.
“Years of Conservative neglect have brought us to this point and they should hang their heads in shame but the Labour government is failing to deliver the change that people are crying out for.
“We are still seeing people being treated in A&E corridors and ambulances queuing up outside, causing delays that people are rightfully terrified by.”
Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Provider, added: “There may be lots of reasons why people chose to go to hospital themselves rather than call 999. The NHS is there for anyone in an emergency.
“Latest official figures show that ambulances are getting to people more quickly despite high demand, with staff attending more than 650,000 incidents and answering more than 843,500 calls to 999 in a month.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We inherited an emergency care system on its knees, with patients left facing lengthy waits for ambulances and often even longer handover delays when they reached hospital.
“Despite record A&E demand, we are turning things around, with ambulances getting to patients faster in July than the same time last year, and handover delays also coming down.
“Our £450 million investment in urgent and emergency care services includes new ambulances, to make sure the NHS can be there for all of us on time when we need it.”