Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
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 trends in the level of demand for patient transport services in each regional ambulance service in England in the last 12 months.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such assessment has been made.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the average ambulance response time to category two incidents is at least 30 minutes by the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our ‘Delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services’ aims to reduce Category 2 response times to 30 minutes on average this year with further improvements towards pre-pandemic levels next year.
To grow capacity and improve response times, ambulance services are receiving £200 million of additional funding this year. This is alongside over 800 new dual-crewed ambulances and specialist mental health vehicles.
The delivery plan will also add 5,000 more permanent hospital beds this winter, supported by £1 billion of dedicated funding. This is alongside £1.6 billion of funding for social care to reduce the numbers of beds occupied by patients ready to be discharged. These measures will improve patient flow through hospitals, reducing crowding in accident and emergency and cutting down on delays in ambulances handing over patients so they can quickly get back on the roads.
We have seen significant improvements in performance, with average Category 2 response times in September over 10 minutes faster than the same month last year.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many specialist mental health ambulances were in use in the NHS in September (a) 2022 and (b) 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This information is not held centrally.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many defibrillators have been installed in public spaces in England as of August 2023.
Answered by Will Quince
The British Heart Foundation, in partnership with the Resuscitation Council UK, the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives and the National Health Service, has set up The Circuit, which is a national database of where defibrillators can be found so that ambulance services can identify the nearest defibrillator at the time of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
The Circuit is live in all ambulance services across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. As of August 2023, there were 54,976 defibrillators registered with the Circuit in England.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to standardise the colour of defibrillation units to allow easier identification by the general public, and when they plan to communicate any such plans to the general public.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to standardise the colour of defibrillation units.
The British Heart Foundation (BHF), in partnership with the Resuscitation Council UK, the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives and the National Health Service, have set up The Circuit, a national defibrillator network database.
The Circuit provides a national database of where defibrillators can be found so that ambulance services can identify the nearest defibrillator at the time of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The Circuit is live in in all ambulance services across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In addition, at the end of January 2022, the BHF launched defib finder, a website that will assist members of the public to locate their nearest defibrillator, including a mapping function.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the public’s knowledge of the availability defibrillation units and where these units can be found.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to standardise the colour of defibrillation units.
The British Heart Foundation (BHF), in partnership with the Resuscitation Council UK, the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives and the National Health Service, have set up The Circuit, a national defibrillator network database.
The Circuit provides a national database of where defibrillators can be found so that ambulance services can identify the nearest defibrillator at the time of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The Circuit is live in in all ambulance services across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In addition, at the end of January 2022, the BHF launched defib finder, a website that will assist members of the public to locate their nearest defibrillator, including a mapping function.
Asked by: Karl McCartney (Conservative - Lincoln)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many ambulances in England are (a) currently electric and (b) are scheduled to be electric by 2030.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England advise that there is currently one electric ambulance in operation. NHS England is working with industry partners and four ambulance trusts to pilot second generation electric ambulance vehicles, with 11 electric ambulances on order to be delivered in 2023/24.
It is not possible to accurately estimate how many and what proportion of ambulances will be electric by 2030. A number of factors will impact adoption including technological development, cost, and the availability of charging facilities. However, by 2030 NHS England expect all new emergency ambulance vehicles in England will be emission free (electric or hydrogen powered).
Asked by: Karl McCartney (Conservative - Lincoln)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what percentage of ambulances in England are (a) currently electric and (b) will be electric by 2030.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England advise that there is currently one electric ambulance in operation. NHS England is working with industry partners and four ambulance trusts to pilot second generation electric ambulance vehicles, with 11 electric ambulances on order to be delivered in 2023/24.
It is not possible to accurately estimate how many and what proportion of ambulances will be electric by 2030. A number of factors will impact adoption including technological development, cost, and the availability of charging facilities. However, by 2030 NHS England expect all new emergency ambulance vehicles in England will be emission free (electric or hydrogen powered).
Asked by: Karl McCartney (Conservative - Lincoln)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the impact of ending the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 on (a) cost and (b) journey times of emergency service vehicles; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of (i) battery life and (ii) the availability of charging points for electric emergency service vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government recognises the efforts already being made by emergency services to transition to zero emission vehicles. British Transport Police has committed to moving its whole car fleet to electric by 2025 and NHS England announced last year that eight ambulance trusts are trialling new zero emission vehicles.
The Government will continue to work with organisations, including the emergency services, to improve knowledge of zero emission vehicles and to give further support to the rollout of suitable charging infrastructure.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to provide funding to the West Midlands Ambulance Service Student's Paramedic Apprenticeship Programme.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Employers of all sizes can access funding for apprenticeships training and assessment when they need it. The department does not allocate funding to particular employers, apprenticeship standards or sectors.
As a levy paying employer, West Midlands Ambulance Service can utilise their levy funds to invest in the high-quality apprenticeships training they choose. The West Midlands Ambulance Service is also registered and approved to deliver apprenticeships training for other employers.
To support more employers across the country, including the National Health Service (NHS), to recruit new apprentices, the department is increasing funding for apprenticeships in England to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year.
The NHS have recently published their long-term workforce plan which puts apprenticeships and skills at the heart of the NHS workforce strategy. The proportion of paramedics who will be trained through apprenticeships will be between 25 – 50% by 2031/32.
These apprenticeships will make medical professions more accessible and help to build a highly skilled and diverse NHS workforce that is more representative of local communities.