Those suffering serious medical emergencies across Peterborough and the wider area are being reached more quickly by ambulance crews, according to new figures.

Data published by East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) for April shows faster response times for the second month in a row.

A spokesperson for EEAST said: “For serious emergencies such as chest pain and suspected strokes, the average ambulance response time in April was 27 minutes and 20 seconds. This is almost nine minutes faster than April last year, when the average was 36 minutes.

“Performance for the most urgent Category 1 (C1) emergencies also improved, with an average response time of 8 minutes 11 seconds, compared to 8 minutes 36 seconds in the same period last year.”

Neill Moloney, Chief Executive Officer of EEAST, said the month-on-month improvements had been delivered “through a combination of recruiting more clinical staff, relentlessly reducing the time ambulances spend off-road for maintenance or repair, and investing in a newer fleet”.

The Trust has also recruited additional clinicians to its Emergency Operations Centres, enabling more patients with less serious conditions to be supported quickly over the phone. Around 18 per cent of EEAST’s 999 calls are now resolved by telephone assessment, helping to ensure ambulances are available for the most urgent cases.

Neill Moloney added: “The continued improvement in key response times reflects the hard work and dedication of our ambulance crews, control room staff and support services.

“Our staff are providing outstanding patient care, and I am incredibly proud of them. The public can be assured that I am working constantly to ensure our teams have the tools, resources and environment they need to continue improving performance and delivering clinical excellence.”