"Wiltshire Heart attack victims waiting almost an hour for help" - Sarah Gibson

Potential heart attack and stroke victims in Wiltshire are waiting an average of 56 minutesfor an ambulance to arrive, shocking new figures have revealed.

The data was obtained through a Freedom of Information request by the Liberal Democrats, who are calling for urgent action to tackle local ambulance delays.

The figures show that the NHS target of 18 minutes for Category 2 ambulance calls, which covers urgent incidents like strokes and potential heart attacks, is being badly missed in Wiltshire.

Ambulance delays have also significantly worsened in recent years, with the average response time increasing by 56% for Category 2 calls since 2019.

The average response time for Category 1 calls, which are the most urgent and life-threatening, was 11 minutes, up 39% since 2019.

Sarah Gibson, Liberal Democrat candidate for the Chippenham Constituency is backing the Liberal Democrat's five-point plan to support local ambulance services, which would see a paramedic recruitment campaign and improvements in social care to reduce pressures on hospital beds.

Sarah said:

"Behind these figures are devastating stories of pensioners left stranded for hours, or families in Wiltshire watching a loved one die before a paramedic could reach them.

"Paramedics on the frontline do an incredible job day in day out, looking after people in their time of need. But our overstretched local NHS services are collapsing under the strain of years of neglect under this Conservative government.

"The Liberal Democrats have provided a clear plan to tackle these shocking delays and make sure ambulances reach people on time in an emergency. That means addressing workforce shortages, fixing the social care crisis and ending the shortage of hospital beds, all of which are leaving patients in ambulances stuck outside A&E for hours."