Response Times
Freedom of Information Request
- Reference
- 040/23
- Request Date
- 19 Jan 2023
- Response Date
- 08 Mar 2023
- Information Requested
- What various dispatch call categories are used by the Scottish Ambulance Service;
2. Scottish average response time for each category
3. area specific response times - within 5 mile radius of AB56 4TU (Cullen)
4. within 5 mile radius of AB56 4TU (Cullen), can you advise the number of calls that a service/division has responded to - i.e: community first responder, paramedic/technician, nurse, doctor, helimed, etc - per dispatch category.
5. Within a 5 mile radius of AB56 4TU (Cullen), how many calls were cardiac arrest and what was their average response time.
Could you provide the numbers quarterly or bi-annually where possible for the period of past 5 years.
- What various dispatch call categories are used by the Scottish Ambulance Service;
- Response
The Scottish Ambulance service is publishing a weekly update of key statistics on unscheduled care operational measures across Scotland. The information includes trends in the number of unscheduled care incidents, responses, conveyances to hospital, response times and hospital turnaround times.
These can be found on our website Unscheduled Care Operational Statistics (scottishambulance.com)
Please note caution on the interpretation of the data provided.
The response times show total time and do not factor in possible upgrading or downgrading that may occur depending on the patient condition. Times are inclusive of all areas, meaning, as a national service, times are inclusive of all types of locations. These will include areas that may have a difficult access and or in a remote location.
For example, a call may start out as a non-emergency (timed admission) call, subsequently be upgraded to a purple call much later, but only the total time from the first call received is shown. The starting point is always set for the colour category first determined, not the final colour category assigned.
Where delays occur, clinical advisors maintain contact with the patient, checking their condition on an ongoing basis, and upgrading when appropriate.
For the given data, you will see that some of the figures are shown as, five or less than five, please note that this figure has been suppressed because the statistical value is less than five. The Scottish Ambulance service has a duty, under the Data Protection Act to avoid directly or indirectly revealing any personal details. It is therefore widely understood that provision of statistics on small numbers, five or less are statistically suppressed upon disclosure.
The definition of the 90th Percentile data given is: “The amount of time it takes the Scottish Ambulance to reach 90% of patients.” So, if the 90th percentile given is 5 minutes. This means we have reached 90% of our patients in five minutes. The Median is the amount of time it takes to reach 50% of patients. Average, is the Sum of all response times, divided by the number of responses attended.
- What various dispatch call categories are used by the Scottish Ambulance Service;
The Scottish Ambulance Service implemented the Clinical Response Model (CRM) for Emergency 999 calls in November 2016. The CRM aims to save more lives by more accurately identifying patients with immediately life-threatening conditions, such as cardiac arrest; and to safely and more effectively send the right type of resource first time to all patients based on their clinical need.
The model institutes a colour-coded system, which categorises 999 calls in terms of clinical need. Cases are coded purple, red, amber, yellow and green.
In less urgent cases, call handlers may spend more time with patients to better understand their health needs and ensure they send the most appropriate resource for their condition and clinical need.
The process is also designed to identify instances when an ambulance is not needed and instead the patient can be referred to an alternative pathway such as GPs, NHS24 or outpatient services. All calls are triaged into the following categories:
Purple: Our most critically ill patients. This is where a patient is identified as having a 10% or more chance of having a cardiac arrest. The actual cardiac arrest rate across this category is approximately 53%.
Red: Our next most serious category where a patient is identified as having a likelihood of cardiac arrest between 1% and 9.9%, or having a need for resuscitation interventions such as airway management above 2%. Currently the cardiac arrest rate in this category is approximately 1.5%.
Amber: where a patient is likely to need diagnosis and transport to hospital or specialist care The cardiac arrest rates for all of these codes is less than 0.5%
Yellow: a patient who has a need for care but has a very low likelihood of requiring life-saving interventions. For example, patients who have tripped or fallen but not sustained any serious injury.
Green: a patient does not fit the above categories and there is potential for an alternative care pathway, rather than needing to go to hospital.
- Scottish average response time for each category
Please find attached the average response times for all attended emergency incidents for the last 5 years.
- Area specific response times - within 5-mile radius of AB56 4TU (Cullen),
We do not hold this information. The Scottish Ambulance service does not measure and cannot provide data against the distance from a postcode.
What we can provide is the data held against the post code sector “AB56 4” only.
Please find attached the figures requested for the emergency incidents attended for the last 5 years in AB56 4 only.
- Within 5-mile radius of AB56 4TU (Cullen), can you advise the number of calls that a service/division has responded to - i.e: community first responder, paramedic/technician, nurse, doctor, helimed, etc - per dispatch category.
Please see the given data for “AB56 4” only. As explained above, the Scottish Ambulance service does not measure and cannot provide data against the distance from a postcode.
- Within a 5-mile radius of AB56 4TU (Cullen), how many calls were cardiac arrest and what was their average response time.
We do not hold this information. The Scottish Ambulance service does not measure and cannot provide data against the distance from a postcode.
Please see the given data.
- Response Documents
