Help your ambulance service through a challenging winter

The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) is preparing for a challenging period as it urges communities to use its services responsibly this winter.

Winter is approaching, and with it is a significant rise in flu and other respiratory illnesses on local, regional, and national scales.

The Trust is expecting to see a significant and sustained demand across its 999 services, as a drop in temperatures and ongoing pressures from ambulance handover delays are set to compound the challenges already faced by the region’s ambulance service.

The Trust has developed an extensive winter plan and is asking communities to help them help you by following these steps:

• Only dial 999 in cases of serious injury or illness where a person's life is in danger. For example, if someone is unconscious, not breathing, or is bleeding heavily.
• If you’re waiting for an ambulance, please don’t call 999 back—unless the patient’s condition has deteriorated or you no longer need an ambulance—to ask when one will arrive; these details can’t be provided, as ambulances are sent to patients with the most life-threatening conditions first.
• For non-life-threatening emergencies, people can access appropriate care by visiting NHS 111 online, contacting their GP, or getting advice from a pharmacy.

Above: Image: The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

Jessica Cunningham, Executive Director of Operations at SWASFT, said: “We know this winter is going to be a very challenging time for us, which is why we’re urging local communities to use our services responsibly and choose the right care for them.

“We want to be there for everyone that needs the ambulance service in an emergency—to help us achieve this, we need to have our crews available for patients with the most life-threatening conditions. Please only call 999 if someone is seriously injured or ill; for anything else, please contact NHS 111.

“I would like to thank our people and NHS colleagues who will be working together throughout the winter to help keep us all safe and well. Should you need their help, please be kind to them, as they are all working hard under significant daily pressures.” 

SWASFT and system partners will continue to run Care Coordination Hubs across the South West this winter period. 

The hubs unite multi-disciplinary teams, including ambulance clinicians and health and social care professionals, to offer patients real-time access to health and urgent care services within the community or in secondary care settings. 

These hubs play a key role in reducing avoidable emergency department visits and unnecessary ambulance dispatches while enhancing patient outcomes, care quality, and overall experience.

This winter, SWASFT is also deploying additional clinicians to its Emergency Operations Centres in Exeter and Bristol, where 999 calls are handled. 

These clinicians will support rapid remote triage, directing patients to appropriate care and further reducing unnecessary emergency department visits and ambulance usage.