West Midlands Ambulance Service has recorded the second worst results in the country for failing to reach the most urgent calls quickly enough, health chiefs have been told.
Government targets state that paramedics must reach 75 per cent of the most serious Category A injuries within eight minutes.
But since the end of March, the service has been scoring only 74.2 per cent – one of only two ambulance services in the country failing to meet the target, NHS West Midlands health authority was told.
West Midlands Ambulance Service told NHS chiefs the blip was due to the short-term impact of a new merged control system, a surge in calls and large numbers of staff training early in the year, affecting response times.
A spokesman said: “There has been an unprecedented amount of calls and we are working with regional health authorities to resolve the current pressures.”
