PATIENTS in Swindon are in safer hands than ever before after Great Western Ambulance Service (GWAS) has been named most improved ambulance service in England.

Figures released this week by the NHS Information Centre show that in the 2009-10 financial year, GWAS reached 75 per cent of immediately life-threatening – known as Category A – 999 calls within eight minutes, meeting the national requirement.

The previous year (2008-09), GWAS arrived at 68.4 per cent of Category A incidents within the target time David Whiting, GWAS Chief Executive, said: “How quickly we reach our patients is clearly a significant part of the service we are here to provide. The fact that GWAS has met these important national performance standards – despite responding to 10 per cent more 999 calls than the previous year – is a sure sign of the progress the trust continued to make last year.

“Getting the right care to patients wherever and whenever they need us relies on superb teamwork from everyone in the service. All our staff can rightly feel proud of their part in achieving this important milestone and I would like to offer my personal thanks for their effort and dedication.”

National performance standards require ambulance services to ensure a back-up vehicle, capable of transporting a patient to hospital, is on scene within 19 minutes for 95 per cent of incidents. Last year, the figure for GWAS was 95.1 per cent compared to 2008’s 94.6 per cent.

GWAS also made progress in how it responded to serious, but not immediately life-threatening – Category B – emergencies. A crew was on scene within 19 minutes of the 999 call being received for 90.7 per cent of incidents, compared to 87.2 per cent the previous financial year. The national requirement is 95 per cent.

Not only was the trust the most improved ambulance service in England last year, but GWAS call-answering performance – how quickly incoming 999 calls are answered– was the best in the UK.

Emergency medical dispatchers answered over 97 per cent of 999 calls within five seconds last year, with the average time to answer being just one second.

“Meeting these performance standards for the first time, while not an end in itself, is an important message to everyone in the region that we are determined to provide the best patient care possible as quickly as possible,” said Mr Whiting.

“That patient care involves both the speed of our response to 999 calls and the clinical care we provide when we arrive – and the last year has also seen further improvements in our clinical standards.

“Our goal this year is to build sustainability into these achievements – and progress to deliver the 95 per cent standard for Category B incidents.

“While these are not life-threatening situations, they still involve patients who need and expect our help as quickly as possible.”