Accident and Emergency

In this section we explore when and how to use the emergency service, the work of our health and emergency operations centres (control) and of our frontline crews.

We also look at the types of response you may receive when you dial 999, and the work of our dedicated community first responders, plus useful information about response times.

Use the main menu to navigate through all the options.

We are currently planning for the most significant change to the ambulance service for a decade - the implementation of a new response measurement system known as 'call connect'.

It means that clock by which response times are measured will start ticking as soon as the 999 call is answered by our call-takers; at present the clock does not start ticking until we known the patient's location and condition, typically up to 90 seconds.

This will more accurately reflect the patient's experience and will have real benefits for patients suffering from life-threatening conditions because we will still need to arrive at 75% of life-threatening calls within eight minutes.

Additional staff both in control and on the road are being taken on to ensure that we can meet this challenging new target by its implementation on April 1, 2008.