South Central Ambulance Service – which covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire – said it declared a critical incident on Monday due to current pressures and there would be delays in responding to patients with “less urgent needs”. NHS trusts said many people were struggling to cope with high levels of Covid staff absence, on top of the heatwave. The HSJ reported that 111 services had also been hit by high Covid absenteeism and high demand, meaning at points over the weekend in London, three out of 10 calls went unanswered. South Central Ambulance Service said it had been escalated to Reap 4 due to “an increase in Covid infections, as well as other respiratory illnesses, both among staff and in our communities”. He added that the increasing number of 999 calls and high temperatures were also key factors. The South East Coast Ambulance Service – which covers Surrey, Kent and West and East Sussex – escalated to Reap 4 on Monday, saying the incident was called after “prolonged pressure on both our service and our wider system”. , with hot weather important. factor. The HSJ has been told that Covid absences were affecting many of the trusts’ ambulance crews and staff were offered incentive payments to work extra hours.
