Ambulance sector

Incidents (October 2025) 

• There were 806,440 ambulance incidents in October 2025, the highest figure on record. 
• There were 81,114 category 1 incidents (life-threatening injuries and illnesses) and 410,040 category 2 incidents, with both categories totalling the highest for any October on record.  

Response times and handovers (October 2025) 

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 eight minutes and one second, 37 seconds faster than last year but missing the national standard of seven minutes for the second month running.
• For category 2 incidents, the average response time was 32 minutes and 37 seconds, nearly 10 minutes faster than last October but missing the 30-minute recovery target.
• In October 2025, there were a record 415,710 ambulance handovers where the handover time was known, highlighting the significant amount of activity the service delivered this month. The mean handover time was 31 minutes 19 seconds, nine minutes faster on average than last year.  

FIGURE 3
Ambulance response times for category 2 incidents