Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the length of time that patients transported to the Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust by ambulance (a) have to wait for an ambulance to arrive and (b) remain waiting in an ambulance before being admitted into A&E.

No specific assessment has been made as this information is not collected centrally.

Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust is improving ambulance handover times through monitoring ambulance arrivals and waiting times. Dedicated areas for patients awaiting a trolley have been established to allow ambulance crews to respond to calls. The Trust has monthly meetings with London Ambulance Service and South East Coast Ambulance Service to review handover times and a standard operating procedure to support ambulance handovers to the urgent treatment centre and same day emergency care service for appropriate patients has been established.