Ambulance crews hit response time target

Published on Thursday 2 April 2009 00:45

SCOTTISH ambulance staff have beaten a target to reach three-quarters of life-threatening calls within eight minutes for the first time.

Figures from the Scottish Ambulance Service show that 77 per cent of "category A" emergency calls across mainland Scotland were reached in the target time during March, compared with 61 per cent in May 2007.

The service has had a target of reaching 75 per cent of calls within eight minutes for a number of years, and aimed to do it by the end of March.

Last month, the service received 12,693 calls about "category A" incidents, of which 9,828 were met within eight minutes. The average response time across mainland Scotland was 6.5 minutes.

Nicola Sturgeon, the health secretary, said: "

This progress must be maintained and improved further so that patients get the consistently high level of service they deserve."

Pauline Howie, acting chief executive of the service, said: "The achievement of our eight-minute response target is a major milestone for the Scottish Ambulance Service and testament to the commitment and professionalism of all our staff.

"Our crews are reaching more people quicker than ever before and the organisation has made significant overall progress in the last year."