THERE was a busy Christmas weekend for West Midlands Ambulance Service with sharp rises in both 999 and 111 calls compared to previous years.
Over the four days of the Christmas bank holiday from December 24 to 27, the Trust took 19,078 emergency calls. During the same four days in 2021 there was 17,572 – an increase this year of 8.6 per cent.
There was an even bigger rise in 111 calls taken by the Trust. Over the four days, call assessors took 20,942 calls – a 37.7 per cent increase on the 15,213 calls taken in 2021.
The biggest increase in 999 calls was on Christmas Eve – from 3,974 to 4,521 – a rise of 14 per cent.
When it came to 111 calls, Christmas Eve was also the busiest with 5,982 – compared to 2,961 in 2021 – a staggering 102 per cent rise.
Christmas Day saw a 45 per cent rise – from 3,228 calls in 2021 to 4,683 this year.
West Midlands Ambulance Trust Chief Executive, Anthony Marsh, thanked the many thousands of staff who worked over the Christmas period while most people were enjoying time with their family and friends.
“It is not just the staff on the road who worked so hard – I want to particularly note the work of the staff in our control rooms.
“These staff are at the forefront of everything that we do, finding out where we are required but also what is wrong with the patient so that our ambulance crews know what they are going into.
“The task at hand for our call handlers and dispatchers is often just as difficult as that experienced by our road staff; they all work exceptionally hard.
“I also want to thank the staff who support these staff, be it the vehicle preparation operatives who clean, fuel and restock the ambulances; the fleet mechanics who make sure we always have ambulances available but also the managers who look after the staff – it is a real team effort.”
West Midlands Ambulance Service is currently recruiting in a range of job roles,, including student paramedics – visit jobs.nhs.uk for more.
