Ambulance sector

Incidents (data from February 2026) 

• There were 737,526 ambulance incidents this month. This is the highest figure for February since records began (August 2017). This is shown in Figure 3.
  
  
• There were 70,937 category 1 incidents (life-threatening injuries and illnesses) and 372,001 category 2 incidents (for emergency calls). 

Figure 3
Ambulance incidents

Response times and handovers (data for February 2026)

The national ambulance response time targets are seven minutes for category 1 incidents and 18 minutes for category 2 incidents. As part of the plan to recover urgent and emergency care, NHS England adjusted the category 2 target to 30 minutes, on a temporary basis.  

• The average response time across England for category 1 incidents was seven minutes and 50 seconds compared with eight minutes and eight seconds for January. This is faster than the eight minutes and five seconds in February 2025, but is still missing the national standard of seven minutes. The last time the standard was met was nearly five years ago in March 2021. 
  
  
• For category 2 incidents, the average response time was 28 minutes and 57 seconds, compared with 35 minutes and four seconds in January. This is faster than the 31 minutes and 23 seconds in February 2025 and is within the 30-minute recovery target. This is the first time the category 2 response time target has been met since August 2025.  
  
  
• There were 379,116 ambulance handovers where the handover time was known. The mean handover time was 31 minutes and two seconds, compared with 34 minutes and 38 seconds in February 2025.