RURAL residents are waiting too long for ambulances.
Kirklees Council’s cabinet yesterday received a report showing emergency call response times were too slow in half of the district.
The Government expects all ambulance services to get to 75% of life-threatening calls within eight minutes.
But Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) is failing to meet the target in most of the rural areas of Kirklees.
Below is a visualisation of the data presented to the cabinet. Red areas are those which failed to meet the 75% target. Yellow areas are those that met it but are still low while green areas are those in which the target was met comfortably.
Hover over your area to find out the number and percentage of calls successfuly answered within eight minutes.
Council leader Clr Mehboob Khan said yesterday: “Residents in areas where the figures dip below the target must be worried, if they have to call an ambulance, whether or not it will arrive in time.”
A special report by the Kirklees Scrutiny Panel found YAS had missed the eight-minute target in half of the 126 areas of the district.
Councillors compiled figures for the 8,212 Category A calls received between April and September last year.
The worst areas were Upper and Lower Cumberworth and Hade Edge – where none of the emergency calls were reached within eight minutes.
In Scissett only 6% of the 33 Category A calls were reached in time, just 8% of 24 in Emley and 8% of 13 in Flockton.
The 75% target was also missed in every part of the Colne Valley, except Crosland Moor.
YAS also fell short of the target in more isolated parts of the Holme Valley, such as Hepworth and Upperthong.
However, the service achieved the 75% mark in Holmfirth, Honley and Brockholes.
YAS also hit the target in all parts of Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Batley.
The top area was Taylor Hill, where all eight emergency calls were reached within eight minutes.
Only 4% of calls were not reached in time in Lindley, home to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.
Staincliffe – site of Dewsbury and District Hospital – also fared well with only 6% of patients having to wait more than eight minutes for help.
In Gledholt the figure was 4% and in Eightlands in central Dewsbury it was 6%.
Clr Liz Smaje presented the scrutiny panel report to the council’s cabinet yesterday.
The Birstall and Birkenshaw Conservative said: “We would like to see a more equitable service across Kirklees and we also want to see the figures published regularly to highlight the areas which fall outside the eight-minute target.”
The panel’s recommendations include:
Using more ambulance stand-by points
Introducing ambulance cleaners at the hospitals in Huddersfield and Dewsbury to improve turnaround times
Recruiting more volunteers, known as community responders
Improving ambulance parking bays at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.
