Paramedics from the East raise concerns with MPs

Paramedics from the East of England Ambulance Service met MPs last night at Westminster, to raise their concerns about response times in the service and the pressure put on staff.

The paramedics say there is too much emphasis put on meeting targets for response times, they say that means people in rural areas are often waiting way too long for ambulances because its easier to meet the targets in urban areas.

And they say patients are being put at risk because of the time it takes to get ambulances to some 999 calls.

Jeff Pittman, East of England Ambulance Service:

The East of England Ambulance Trust say they have a new chief executive in place and are putting in measures to improve response times.

They also say they are recruiting 199 new members of staff, including 139 in the next month to help relieve pressure on those already working in the service.