Ambulance staff provided timely, high quality care to a record numbers of people in England this winter, earning the praise of Health Minister Stephen Hammond.
The hard work of all ambulance service staff meant that 5% more patients calling 999 were treated compared with the same period last year.
In a meeting with Anthony Marsh, Chair of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE), the health minister asked that his compliments were passed onto all ambulance employees.
Mr Marsh told a meeting of the AACE Council:
The minister was complimentary about our performance over winter. Despite 5% more patients calling 999 this winter, creating more pressure on the system, the ambulance sector performed better in each month of winter than in the same period last year.
Official figures from NHS England show that ambulance services improved their average response time to the most serious (Category 1) incidents between December and March by one minute and 24 seconds, or 16.4%, while emergency (Category 2) incident response times improved by four minutes and 48 seconds (17.6%).
After the meeting, Mr Marsh added:
Throughout the ambulance sector, staff have worked tirelessly, despite an intense and continuing pressure on NHS services, to deliver outstanding patient care.
