Ambulance 'postcode lottery' anger

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Shadow health minister Stephen O'Brien said that figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show the number of ambulances reaching serious emergencies within eight minutes ranges from 51.98% in Mid Essex Primary Care Trust (PCT) to 93.44% in Blackpool PCT.

Under a Government target, 75% of serious emergencies - known as Category A incidents - should be reached within eight minutes.

Mr O'Brien said: "It is a damning indictment of Labour's treatment of our NHS that ambulance provision varies so widely across the country. Alan Johnson has clearly not got a grip on the NHS.

"We know that they have presided over a growing disparity in the provision of drugs and healthcare, but the utter incompetence which gives rise to such patchy emergency care is unforgivable - especially as around this incompetence hangs a nasty whiff of favouring Labour held constituencies."

He said the figures, which come from Autumn 2007, also show a huge variety within ambulance trusts.

The North West Ambulance Service Trust, which covers Blackpool PCT, is performing at 62.67% in the Central and East Cheshire PCT area, which is the eighth worst result in the country.

Across the country, the Tories say that ambulance trusts are missing the 75% target in 39% of PCT areas.

Mr O'Brien said: "Conservatives expressed deep concern when the Government created these 'super trusts' in their ninth reorganisation of the NHS - a restructuring for which there was little evidence. These figures show how well founded that concern was."

The previous 31 ambulance trusts were merged into 12 larger trusts in 2006 at the same time as a major shake-up of PCTs.