Delays in ambulance handovers a result of bed-blocking in hospital wards

Available for over a year

Adrian South, the deputy director of South West Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, said bed-blocking is the reason for delays in transferring patients from an ambulance to hospital. He told us that despite the ambulance service being well-staffed with more ambulances on the road than ever before, crews are spending hours waiting outside hospitals to hand over patients. In fact, in July 2022, 109 ambulances in Somerset spent the entire shift waiting outside a hospital, which meant they could respond to other calls.