New figures show London Ambulance Service has achieved the fastest response times for many years as it relentlessly focuses on improving performance in the face of growing demand for services.
The data follows the introduction of a number of innovative approaches including the use of AI to free up clinician’s time, more paramedics treating patients over the phone, and a focus on keeping as many vehicles on the road, which have all helped improve performance and patient care.
Figures reveal that the response times for ambulance crews reaching the most critically ill patients in August, known as Category 1 calls, was six minutes and 40 seconds – the fastest since April 2022.
The response times for Cat 2 calls in August this year – emergencies which include strokes, difficulty breathing and chest pains – was the best achieved by the country’s busiest ambulance service since May 2021.
This improved performance comes even as 999 call volumes remain consistently high compared to before the COVID pandemic – last month there were 20,000 more calls compared with August 2024.
Jason Killens KAM, Chief Executive at London Ambulance Service, said: “These figures are testament to the incredible efforts of everyone at LAS to improve the care we offer to patients, from our clinicians on the road and people in 999 control rooms, to those repairing our ambulances or getting them stocked for front-line shifts.
“We need to keep up this momentum and continue to adopt innovative ways of working, both inside LAS and with our NHS partners, to ensure we are offering our patients the care they need and deserve.”
LAS has bolstered the Service’s fleet with over 150 brand new vehicles and put out 200 more frontline shifts on compared to August last year.
Meanwhile, the Service has reduced the age of the fleet and set up out of hours mechanic workshops where vehicles can be repaired overnight, meaning ambulances spend less time off the road and crews can care for more patients without delay.
Clinicians at the clinical hub of the Service’s 999 control room have also helped to bring down response times by providing expert clinical assessments to patients over the phone to avoid people going to busy hospitals when it’s not necessary. Known as ‘hear and treat’, more than one in five London Ambulance Service patients are treated in this way, one of the highest rates in the country.
This comes as paramedics at the Service are trailing a new Artificial Intelligence tool that allows them to care for hundreds of extra patients a day.
The AI tool – using Ambient Voice Technology – has been trialled by clinicians in the Service’s clinical hub. The AI technology listens to and digitally transcribes conversations between clinicians and patients and automatically transforms the spoken words into structured medical notes. This allows paramedics more time to care for their patients.
These notes are clinically reviewed and verified by paramedics before being saved into the patient record. No information is stored in the AI tool itself to protect patient privacy.
