Staff thanked for 999 pick-up time improvements

Our call handlers and IT teams have been thanked this week for their part in improving our 999 call pick-up times by nearly 20 seconds in under a year.

Head of EOC Gary Morgan said the improvement in the figures, published by the Department of Health as Ambulance Clinical Quality Indicators, is the combination of the regional telephony system introduced last autumn and the hard work of the call handler teams to respond to callers as quickly as possible.

He said: “I would like to thank our call handlers and IT department for the hard work they are doing, which can be difficult in a pressurised environment like a control room. It's been a real team effort to make these improvements – well done everyone.”

Latest Government figures about the time taken to answer calls reveal that 95% were picked up in five seconds during July, compared to 23 seconds in September 2014. 

Published 3rd October, 2015