PARAMEDICS have said they are being diverted from York to other areas to hit response targets — putting people in the city at risk.

Ambulance workers have said that in order to meet tough targets across Yorkshire, as many as two ambulances and cars have been taken out of York per shift and diverted to cities such as Leeds and Sheffield.

Crews are being diverted in order to help the Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) meet eight minute response times in the region as a whole, it is claimed.

However, in response YAS has said staff are occasionally moved from areas where there have been more staff than is required.

A North Yorkshire paramedic, who asked not to be named, said: “By moving the assets from a place less likely to hit their response times in their more rural location, to a place more heavily populated, the overall response time figures look better.

“The dangerous side for us, the paramedics, is that we are responding with blue lights in areas that are unfamiliar to us. And this is dangerous for us and other road users and the patients. We may have sat nav, but it is slow in built up areas and does not replace local knowledge of not just the roads, but also the more dangerous places of a city.

“It’s to the detriment of York. People are having to wait longer.”

Another paramedic said, “It has been stated that YAS is failing in its response performance, yet crews are being sent from York and Haxby daily to bolster performance figures in South and West Yorkshire.”

Earlier this month, health bosses vowed to improve ambulance response times after it was revealed paramedics were not reaching their targets for the most critical call outs.

A report produced by the Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) found Red 1 response times — those categorised as seriously ill — were falling below their 75 per cent goal of getting to patients in eight minutes.

In April, Red 1 response times for life threatening injuries sat at 76.1 per cent, however, they fell to 72.8 per cent a month later and 58.8 per cent in June. They rose to 67.6 per cent in July, before ending up at 65.7 per cent in August.


Doctor says speed is the first priority

Dr David Macklin, deputy medical director at Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said: “Our priority is to respond to all emergency calls as quickly as possible and, in view of the growing demand for our 999 service, we are constantly reviewing ambulance cover and the standby locations of our crews across the Trust to match patient demand more closely.

“As a regional service, we have the flexibility to move our resources at any time to ensure a timely response to all of our patients wherever they may be.

“Occasionally, where there have been more staff than is required to cover a particular area we have used them in other parts of the region when demand has been high or where there has been a shortfall in resources.

“Prior to such decisions being made, all aspects of patient care, risk and service delivery are carefully considered to ensure that we continue to provide a timely, safe and high-quality service to those who call upon us for assistance.”