London Ambulance Service

In answer to the comments below who state roadworks and cycle lanes as major factors in ambulance delays - in fact statistics show that it is largely high traffic volumes that create delays, and badly or illegally parked vehicles which block access and make it difficult for emergency vehicles to reach their destination. Roadworks are a temporary inconvenience - but vehicles should always move to allow access for emergency vehicles, and some drivers are not aware of this.
Many ambulances rely on out-of-date sat nav equipment to get around, especially where the driver is out of their usual area. It has been well publicised that drivers often use their phone apps to access sat navs, as they are more up to date. Ambulances should be fitted with the most recent equipment, both to help save lives and to help drivers reach their destinations.
London has always been a city of change, and always will be. Road layouts change, access changes and whole streets are created or erased. Managing this change through investment is vital - so that the NHS, ambulance crews and support staff have the tools they need to get their jobs done. Acknowledging the value of the paramedics and ambulance drivers who perform this vital job although the odds seem to be stacked against them would be a start.

Reduce ambulance travel times stop closing hospital A+E departments and reopen closed departments then hospitals will be able to cope and reduce ambulance waiting times at hospitals 

Also invest more money in A+E departments 

Expectations: getting to a person in distress fast enough to deliver effective first aid and onward transport to treatment as required.

Challenges: road traffic congestion, financial pressure restricting staff levels, held back wages and high stress levels leading to high turnover of skilled people, waiting times to hand over patients at destinations, physical and other aggression from the public - sometimes just understandable and sometimes just not. A policy of concentration of treatment at larger hospital units is supposed to improve medical services within those that remain, but increases transport times to reach them. Staff paying for vehicle parking when working unsocial hours.

A London Ambulance Service that is fully resourced and supported. They are already friendly, knowlegeable and provide an excellent service under very trying circumstances. There should be priority lanes in London for emergency vehicles to help them get through the traffic. Maybe more investment in air ambulances and hospital hopper bus services so cases can be prioritised.

I agree with most of the comments below: the service does a great job but their time is often wasted by non emergency calls.

People who abuse the service should be penalised. A lot of their time is also wasted by drunkenness on Fri and Sat nights.  Again I think these people should be charged for the service or do some community work.

Their main challenges are that paramedics are over worked, over stressed and under paid. They have to be as knowledgeable as a doctor but do not receive sufficient renumeration. The Ambulance Service and its staff are amazing. I have a few relatives who have being given life saving treatment when very ill by paramedics. A main challenge for the Service is over use by people who think they need an ambulance but don't. 

They provide a great service in a very stressful environment. My only concern ( and it is fairly minor in the whole scheme of things) is that they leave their engines running when they are parked up. I walk along a road behind St Thomas' where there may be 10 ambulances parked - presumably waiting for a call. The crew are invariably out of the vehicles chatting etc. and all the engines are running. I want cleaner air!

Great people completely under reasourced. Could do with investment aimed at the paramedics treating the straightforward stuff. Introduce fines for time wasters and custodial sentences for those who attach or obstruct them.

Having had one or two experiences of the ambulance service I have nothing but praise for the superb crews I have encountered. The problems begin when arriving at a hospital which may be very busy and although great care has been excercised in the Ambulance it then becomes a waiting game before further treatment or diagnosis can begin. An anxious time for the patient. Of course this is not always the case and I have also experience immediate and extreamly thorough treatment on arrival.  Of course in some cases I understand the ambulance cannot be released for further duty because there is no accomodation for the patient in the hospital.

More funding for more staff & more ambulances plus a decent pay rise, these people do a great job under enormous pressure so need looking after.

Expectations: A service I'm confident in. A service that is professional and qualified. A service that is compassionate.

Challenges: No doubt funding is at the top of the list. Having adequate staffing at all hours and having knowledgeable staff.

The one and only time I called an ambulance, I was told it would be faster to take a taxi. This compounded the anxiety and fear I had about my condition. My husband and I did take a taxi to the hospital, where I was admitted (so my problem was significant). The next time I thought about calling an ambulance, I called Uber instead. Health care should not work this way.

I will note that while I was shocked that the ambulance dispatcher advised taking a taxi, I did appreciate her honesty.

Speedy response, speedy handoff, well-staffed and well-funded.  

The answer to all but the first is a competent system of state provision funded by progressive taxation. 

We sort out the speedy response by fixing the flipping roads, two-tiering the right of utilities to dig (because there are gas emergencies, there are water emergencies, but there is no such thing as a broadband emergency!), and fining daily those companies who fail to trench-share for non-emergent works when trench-sharing was a viable choice on a given work.  

I called 411 last year after hurting myself in a fall, and the telephone service was fast and efficient. The person on the line went through an algorithm to determine the severity and appropriate response, advised me the nearest appropriate hospital, and to go immediately by taxi.  That was the right advice, because I could walk unassisted, and it freed up an ambulance for a more serious case.  I assume that there are many other instances where an ambulance is not needed.

However, when an ambulance is indicated, then the service must be fast, professional and effective. Only with sufficient qualified human resources, vehicles and equipment can NHS provide such a service.  I've read recently about ambulances that were damaged by poor road conditions (eg pot-holes) or by filling up with the wrong fuel, and trust that there is sufficient budget to get these vehicles back on the road ASAP.  

I saw a question in an earlier response talking about bus lanes -- I assume that ambulance drivers can automatically use bus lanes, correct?

Speedy response times. Better/more knowledgeable "triage" by despatchers. Can we cut down on the noise? All emergency services seem determined to use sirens whether needed or not. We must have one of the least relaxing cities in Europe in that respect. How about charging people for needing ambulances due to injuries caused by self-inflicted excessive drinking? Every one of these unnecessarily puts other peoples lives at risk.