West Midlands Ambulance Service reports sharp rise in Christmas calls

Over the four days of the Christmas Bank Holiday the trust took no fewer than 19,078 emergency calls. This compares to 17,572 for the same dates in 2021, an increase of 8.6 per cent.

There was an even bigger rise in 111 calls taken by the trust. Over the four days, its call assessors took 20,942 calls. This was a 37.7 per cent increase on 2021 where the trust took 15,213 calls.

Trust chief executive, Anthony Marsh said: “I would like to thank the many thousands of staff who worked over the Christmas period while most people were enjoying time with their family and friends.

“It is not just the staff on the road who worked so hard; I want to particularly note the work of the staff in our control rooms. These staff are at the forefront of everything that we do, finding out where we are required but also what is wrong with the patient so that our ambulance crews know what they are going into.

“The task at hand for our call handlers and dispatchers is often just as difficult as that experienced by our road staff; they all work exceptionally hard.

“I also want to thank the staff who support these staff, be it the vehicle preparation operatives who clean, fuel and restock the ambulances; the fleet mechanics who make sure we always have ambulances available but also the managers who look after the staff - it is a real team effort.”