• Public Accounts Committee publishes report on NHS ambulance services
• Report highlights that funding increases for ambulance trusts have not kept up with increasing demand
• We say PAC is right to emphasise morale problems and that pressures on ambulance services have become unsustainable

The Public Accounts Committee has published a report on NHS ambulance services warning that it is taking too long to address performance.

The Committee reported:

• Funding increases for the urgent and emergency services provided by ambulance trusts have not kept up with increasing demand;
• Ambulance trusts increasingly struggle to meet response-time targets;
• And not enough work has been done to address variations in operational and financial performance.

NHS Providers, which represents ambulance trusts, submitted evidence to the inquiry.

Responding the Public Accounts Committee’s report on ambulances, the director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery said:

“We welcome this clear-sighted analysis of the challenges facing NHS ambulance services which, as the PAC points out, play a pivotal role in the wider urgent and emergency care system.

The lack of clarity about how ambulance services will connect and integrate with other urgent and emergency care services is worrying.

“The demands placed on ambulance services have risen much faster than funding and the complexity of their role has increased. Performance in meeting response time targets has slipped. Ambulance trusts and hospitals are working closely to try to minimise delays for patients and manage demand, but we need a wider response encompassing health and social care, together with preventative and public health measures. As the PAC points out, the lack of clarity about how ambulance services will connect and integrate with other urgent and emergency care services is worrying.

“The PAC is also right to emphasise morale and recruitment problems. It highlights the demanding nature of the work. The pressures on ambulance staff have become unsustainable. We need to ensure staff feel valued and supported.”