South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation (SECAmb) has welcomed latest figures which show it has consistently exceeded the response time target to respond to some of its most seriously ill and injured patients over the past year.
SECAmb was one of only a small number of ambulance trusts to exceed the Category 2 call performance target across the whole last 12-months, (1 April 2024 – 31 March 2025) with a yearly average response time of 28 minutes and 49 seconds. This was despite a close to 40,000 increase in 999 calls on the previous year.
The category includes calls to suspected stroke and heart attack patients and is where some two-thirds of SECAmb’s calls fall. As part of national improvement plans, ambulance services are currently commissioned to respond to Category 2 calls in an average of less than 30 minutes.
SECAmb recognises the need to improve response times across all categories of calls and is committed to making further improvements to ensure patients receive the most appropriate response for their needs.
The past year has seen SECAmb implement a number of initiatives to help manage demand on its service and the wider NHS, and to ensure patients are receiving the right response, first time.
The work includes the introduction of an additional five multi-discipline clinical hubs. The Unscheduled Care Navigation Hubs (UCNHs) see SECAmb’s highly-skilled clinicians joined by specialist teams from across local healthcare systems to ensure 999 calls are receiving the most appropriate response.
The hubs complement SECAmb’s existing urgent care hubs, through which the Trust’s Advance Paramedic Practitioners (APPs) provide support and advice to ambulance crews.
The hubs are just one way SECAmb is aiming to improve its ‘Hear and Treat’ rate – the number of calls which are handled with advice over the phone or via referral to another service rather than receiving a face-to-face ambulance response. The rate currently stands at more than 15.6 per cent, up more than 5 per cent since 2023.
SECAmb Chief Executive, Simon Weldon said: “We delivered a really consistent Category 2 response time performance across the past 12 months. This is a challenging category for all ambulance services as it is where a majority of our calls fall.
“Teams right across our organisation are responsible for ensuring we exceeded this target. They should all be very proud and I would like to thank all our staff and volunteers for their work in achieving this target.
“We are very aware that there remains much to do to ensure we continue to make improvements across all categories of call. Measures that we have implemented, including the introduction of more of our multi-discipline clinical hubs, are proving beneficial for patients.
“I would also like to thank all our partners across the health system for their support in helping us to maintain good hospital handover performance. As we look ahead, it is vital that we continue to work closely with our NHS system colleagues to ensure our patients are receiving the most appropriate care and treatment for their needs, first time.”