Ambulance services records 80% jump in staff leaving the workforce

Ambulance services records 80% jump in staff leaving the workforce as 33,000 employees have quit since 2010

  • The number of people leaving NHS ambulance trusts hit 4,875 in 2017-18
  • That is a rise of 80 per cent from the 2,704 who left in 2010-11, figures show
  • A third of ambulance staff have been victims of violence in the past year 

Ambulance services have seen an 80 per cent leap in staff leaving the workforce.

More than 33,000 workers in England have left their jobs since 2010, raising concerns that patients may have to wait longer in blue-light emergencies.

Ambulance crews are on the frontline of the NHS, with a third having been victims of violence in the past year.

More than 33,000 workers in England have left their jobs since 2010, raising concerns that patients may have to wait longer in blue-light emergencies

There has been a recent recruitment crisis, leaving a workforce shortage of almost 1,000 staff last year.

New figures now show the number of people leaving NHS ambulance trusts hit 4,875 in 2017-18.

That is a rise of 80 per cent from the 2,704 who left in 2010-11, although the figure is not just for paramedics and takes into account retirements and people transferring between ambulance trusts.

The statistics were sourced by the Labour party, and shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said it was evidence of a ‘retention and recruitment crisis afflicting our NHS’.

HOW ARE EMERGENCIES CATEGORISED WHEN YOU CALL FOR AN AMBULANCE?

Category 1: People with life-threatening injuries and illnesses, such as a cardiac arrest or serious allergic reactions.

On average, an ambulance arrives within seven minutes.

Category 2: Emergency conditions such as burns, epilepsy or stroke.

An ambulance should arrive within 18 minutes. 

Category 3‘Urgent calls’ like late-stages of labour, non-severe burns and diabetes. Patients may be treated by ambulance staff at home.

If the patient requires hospital treatment, at least nine times out of ten an ambulance will arrive within two hours. 

Category 4: ‘Less urgent calls’ such as diarrhoea, vomiting and urine infections. Patients may be given advice over the phone, or referred to another service such as a GP or pharmacist.

If hospital treatment is required, at least nine times out of ten an ambulance will arrive within three hours.

Source: NHS England 

He added: ‘Workforce shortages place huge pressures on ambulance services and its patients who too often are left stranded waiting longer and longer for an ambulance to arrive.’

Earlier this year it emerged cut-price ambulance staff with only a few weeks of training are being sent on thousands of 999 calls, including to people suffering heart attacks and cardiac arrests.

Seven out of 10 overstretched ambulance services send ’emergency care assistants’ to call-outs after a four to 12-week training course, unaccompanied by more qualified paramedics who do a three-year degree.

The latest figures show the rate of people leaving ambulance services has steadily grown from 2010-11, reaching a record of 5,002 staff in 2016-17.

That number fell slightly in 2017-18, but in total 33,141 ambulance workers have left their jobs since 2010.

The London Ambulance Service has had to fill the most vacancies, with more than 4,000 people jumping ship in less than a decade. The figures include managers, qualified ambulance staff and support staff.

Last year it was reported that one patient had waited 62 hours for an ambulance in Wales, while the East of England, South East Coast and South Central ambulance services all recorded waits of more than 24 hours in the year to June 2018.

More than 200,000 nurses have quit the NHS since 2010, according to damning figures reported in March, with poor work-life balance and rising demand feared to be pushing staff out of the NHS.