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Yorkshire: 999 service is up to speed
Ambulances in Yorkshire are finally getting to the most serious emergencies quickly enough, an NHS watchdog has said.
Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) has been given a clean bill of health by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
It lifted a demand that the service meet national response time targets – of getting to 75 per cent of the most serious calls within eight minutes – by October as the target has been reached a month early.
The ambulance trust could have faced fines or prosecution if it had not been met.
Now ambulances in the region are responding to 76.6 per cent of emergency calls within eight minutes.
Simon Worthington, acting chief executive at Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said: "The condition being lifted is a reflection of the significant efforts of all our staff over the last year.
Worst
"We are committed to sustaining this level of performance and continuing to provide a high quality ambulance service in Yorkshire."
YAS has faced an uphill struggle to meet national response time targets. As previously reported in the YEP, it had been the worst in the country and last December figures hit a new low with just 62.8 per cent of calls being reached on time.
From April, all NHS bodies had to be registered with the CQC but YAS had a condition attached which required it to make urgent improvements in response times.
During two visits, the health watchdog found they had improved "markedly".
Jo Dent, CQC regional director, said: "An enormous amount of work has gone into meeting the target .
"We will be watching closely and expect to see these improvements maintained.!
YAS is advertising for a new chief executive after the departure of Martyn Pritchard in June. The job has a salary of 130,000.
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 26 May 2012
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