Patients left stranded as ageing ambulances break down on way to hospital

27 August 2023 , 23:01

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Some of the ambulances have been on the road for as long as 14 years (Image: PA)

Patients "risk being left stranded" when trying to get to hospital as there has been a massive rise in ambulance breakdowns.

The emergency vehicles conked out 7,060 times in England last year, the equivalent of 19 times a day. This is a 36% increase on five years ago when there were 5,159 ambulances breakdowns. Some of the vehicles have been on the road for as long as 14 years.

Liberal Democrats health spokeswoman Daisy Cooper, who got hold of the figures, said they were "yet more evidence that the Conservatives have left our NHS to crumble". The party requests for information on breakdowns were sent to 11 NHS trusts, with six providing figures.

The Lib Dems also asked questions about how old the emergency vehicle fleet is. Of the 10 trusts that provided information on the age of ambulances, six confirmed they have vehicles over 12 years old. In total, nearly 250 ambulances at those trusts are over 10 years old.

London Ambulance Service NHS Trust was found to have an ambulance that was 14 years old, with that trust also accounting for 3,800 breakdowns in 2022. But the trust also had the most ambulances of the trusts that provided data.

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Ms Cooper said: "Patients with life-threatening injuries risk being left stranded waiting in pain for an ambulance due to the Conservatives' mismanagement and neglect of our health services. To bring an end to this embarrassment, the Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to provide the funding that our emergency services need to keep ambulances on the road."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: "This data is misleading and out-of-date. The latest data shows improved ambulance response times, despite record A&E attendances and demand for July. We are working to get 800 new ambulances on the road, create 5,000 extra hospital beds and scale up virtual wards as part of our Urgent and Emergency Care plan to further reduce waiting times for patients. We have opened four new ambulance hubs - with two others due to open this summer which will help increase efficiency and get ambulances back on the road faster, so they can reach the people who need them as quickly as possible."

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John Stevens