news GPs tell patients to ‘get an Uber’ as NHS ambulance delays hit record level | NHS

Some of the country's GP are advising patients requiring urgent hospital care to “get an Uber” or use a relative's car because of the worst ever delays in the ambulance service

in England.Patients with breathing difficulties and other potentially serious conditions are being told in some cases that they are likely to be transferred more quickly from a

general practice to accident and emergency if they travel by cab or private vehicle.NHS England data shows that October's average ambulance response times for category 1 to 3

emergencies, which cover all urgent conditions, appear to be the highest since the categories were introduced nationally in 2017. Some patients who require emergency treatment may

have to wait several hours for an ambulance arrives.Dr Selvaseelan Selvarajah, a GP partner in east London, said: “If somebody is not having a heart attack or a stroke, my

default advice is 'have you got someone who can drive you or do you want to get an Uber?'“These are patients who may have breathing difficulty or are suffering severe abdominal

pain, but their life is not in immediate danger.” He said such patients would have previously been transferred by ambulance.Health bumps say the major delays in ambulance

services are being caused by handover delays at A&E departments, with vehicles queuing for hours before their patients are seen.The proportion of delays exceeding one hour in

handovers from an ambulance to a hospital in England increased from 3% in October 2020 to 18% in October 2022, according to the latest figures published by the Association of

Ambulance Chief Executives. The number of handovers exceeding an hour reached about 52,000 in October, the highest number to date.Dr Neena Jha, who works as a locum GP in

Hertfordshire, said: “I've never seen ambulance services stretched to this degree because of the pressures they are under. It's really worrying when you're dealing with an

acutely unwell patient.“If someone needs an urgent transfer to accident and emergency, we don't rely on the ambulance service. We call taxis or get relative to drive them in if

they are going to be stable on the journey.“I've had patients who have falling oxygen levels, who are quite unwell, and I have been quoted an 18-hour wait for an ambulance.”The

NHS says the problem of ambulances queuing at A&E departments is caused by hospitals being full to capacity. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPAJha said it was often a dilemma as to whether

to keep a patient at the practice and wait for an ambulance with oxygen on hand, or take the risk of them going unaccompanied to hospital to ensure they get faster access to the