Unnecessary call outs cost North West Ambulance Service over £12m per year

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The North West Ambulance Service has launched an appeal asking the public to only call for their help if they really need it.

They say that they attend over one thousand calls a month where there are no patients, wasting valuable resources.

Over one million pounds of public money is wasted every month when the North West Ambulance are called out.

The total price of wasted ambulance journey's costs the region's ambulance service, and the public purse is £12,855,120 a year, which could have funded:

  • 92 brand new, fully kitted emergency ambulances

  • Salaries and staffing costs for 286 paramedics or 390 emergency medical technicians

  • 1071 high spec monitoring devices for heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen levels and to defibrillate patients in cardiac arrest

  • 2,571,024 blankets to keep patients warm

  • 1071 ambulance stretchers

The North West Ambulance Service have published these figures to as part of the its campaign, urging the public to choose the right NHS service, ensuring ambulance are going to people who need them.