Calls to ambulance service soar

Extra ambulance crews have been put on the road by SECAmb

People in Kent, Surrey and Sussex have been asked not to call an ambulance for minor complaints as the service is dealing "extremely high" call numbers.

South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) said it had seen a 17% increase in the number of patients being taken to hospital in December.

In Kent, St John Ambulance said it had made three of its vehicles available to support SECAmb.

It blamed the coldest start to winter for 30 years for the crisis.

"Our fully trained volunteers would always expect to support the service at this time of year when calls tend to rise," said Martin Phippen, commissioner for St John Ambulance Kent.

"But the demand this year is much higher."

The manager of the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Teo Vogiatzis, said it had seen more patients with respiratory conditions.

There has also been an increase in flu and the winter vomiting bug norovirus and a sharp increase in the number of people falling.

Redeployed staff

SECAmb, which serves the three counties, said it normally expected about 5% more patients in December.

"We always experience a rise in calls at this time of year," said Sue Harris, director of operations.

"However, the number of emergency calls for help that we're currently receiving is way above what we've planned for, by about 10%."

SECAmb said it had increased the number of front-line crews on the road dealing with emergency calls and redeployed clinically-trained staff to areas of increased 999 call activity.

"We want people to call us if there is a genuine medical emergency but, for more minor complaints, we ask the public to consider if NHS Direct or a minor injuries unit would be more appropriate," said Ms Harris.