CONCERN has been raised about the length of time patients have waited to be transferred from ambulances to A&E at Royal Blackburn Hospital.

The ambulance handover time has increased from 17.14 minutes in February to 21.34 minutes in September.

Ambulances should be able to hand over patients to A&E within 15 minutes of arrival but this target is not being met.

Union bosses blamed more people using the NHS, and said the 15-minute deadline was unrealistic.

Ambulance handover times for March were 25.13 minutes, April was 20.48, followed by May at 20.30, June at 18.41, July at 19.30 and August at 21.09, according to a report considered by East Lancashire Hospital Trust’s board at a meeting on Wednesday.

John Bannister, director of operations at East Lancashire Hospitals Trust, acknowledged at the meeting that ambulance handover times were still a little way from where they need to be.

He said: “There is focused work at North West Ambulance Service and across the local system to improve that position.”

Glenn Harrison, lead convener for public service union UNISON, said: “There are consistent pressures and more people using the NHS.

“There are not enough ambulance crews and doctors and nurses to deal with all these extra people.

“Staff do a fantastic job and don’t want to miss these deadlines but the lack of resources make them unrealistic.

North West Ambulance Service said it had put in place several initiatives to improve handover times.

A spokesman said: “We are working very closely with our NHS colleagues to put in place a number of initiatives to improve hospital handovers so that ambulance crews can be freed up quicker to respond to further emergencies and make sure that the people get the care they need.

“The trust’s priority is patient care and providing the most appropriate response for the wide range of incidents we are called to. We are confident that the initiatives we have put in place will result in improvements.

“The public can assist by only calling 999 in emergencies and considering other healthcare providers such as GPs and pharmacies if their condition is not serious.”