CRUCIAL ambulance response ‘targets’ have been missed, according to an NHS report.

Thousands of the ‘most severe and time-critical’ patients dealt with by the North West Ambulance Service were left waiting more than the standard eight minutes for an emergency response.

And many were left waiting more than 14 minutes, according to figures for call-outs between June 2012 and March this year.

Crews are expected to respond to 75 per cent of ‘Red 1’ calls within eight minutes, but North West Ambulance Service only met this target in 73.5 per cent of cases, according to the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC).

Separate figures suggested more than 1,300 patients were left waiting 14 minutes or more, which represented the worst five per cent of cases.

Red 1 calls cover cardiac arrest patients who are not breathing and do not have a pulse, plus other severe conditions such as airway obstruction.

North West Ambulance Service disputed that the 75 per cent measure for Red 1 calls had been an ‘official target’ last year, saying the data was only recorded to see if the benchmark was achievable.

However, staff at the HSCIC pointed to a letter which was sent to ambulance trusts in May 2012, which said: “Performance against the Category A eight-minute standard will be reported and assessed separately for Red 1 and Red 2 calls.

“The existing standard of performance will remain for 2012/13, i.e. 75% of calls should receive a response at the scene within eight minutes. However, there is an expectation that trusts will demonstrate continuous improvement in performance to reach 80% for Red 1 calls by April 2013...”

The eight-minute response time is difficult to meet in rural areas such as the Ribble Valley, Rossendale and Pendle, but should still be met, irrespective of the location.

Russ McLean, of the Pennine Lancashire Patient Voices Group, said: “This is very disturbing. If that’s the average across the region, then goodness only knows what the responses will be like in rural areas.”

He said ambulance crews have increasingly been called out to patients who do not need emergency care, which can leave them tied up unnecessarily.

Bob Williams, acting chief executive for the North West Ambulance Service said: “In 2012/13 the Trust exceeded the Government target for Category A calls by achieving 76.43% against the required national standard of 75% for the region.

“Formal reporting of performance against the Red 1 and Red 2 targets was introduced from April 2013.

“In preparation for the new targets, the Trust started to measure its performance against the new targets from June 2012.

“The Trust did not meet Red 1 performance within 75%, by 1.5% in 2012/13. However, I can confirm that, at the present time, the Trust is meeting the new Red 1 target, achieving 77.1%.”