Ambulance delays: Heart attack victims in Eastleigh waiting over 28 minutes for help

Potential heart attack and stroke victims in Eastleigh are waiting an average of 28 minutes 26 seconds for an ambulance to arrive, shocking new figures have revealed.

The data was obtained through a Freedom of Information request by the Liberal Democrats, who are calling for urgent action to tackle local ambulance delays. 

The figures show that the NHS target of 18 minutes for Category 2 ambulance calls, which covers urgent incidents like strokes and potential heart attacks, is being badly missed in Eastleigh.  

Ambulance delays have also significantly worsened in recent years, with the average response time increasing by 40.96% for Category 2 calls since 2019.

The average response time for Category 1 calls, which are the most urgent and life-threatening, was 8 minutes 7 seconds, up 20.86% since 2019.

Liz Jarvis is backing the Liberal Democrats’ five point plan to support local ambulance services, which would see a paramedic recruitment campaign and improvements in social care to reduce pressures on hospital beds.  

Liz Jarvis, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Eastleigh, said:

“Behind these figures are devastating stories of pensioners left stranded for hours, or families in Eastleigh watching a loved one die before a paramedic could reach them. 

“Paramedics on the frontline do an incredible job day in day out, looking after people in their time of need. But our overstretched local NHS services are collapsing under the strain of years of neglect under this Conservative government.

“The Liberal Democrats have provided a clear plan to tackle these shocking delays and make sure ambulances reach people on time in an emergency. That means addressing workforce shortages, fixing the social care crisis and ending the shortage of hospital beds, all of which are leaving patients in ambulances stuck outside A&E for hours.”