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Calls to the Northwest Ambulance Service increased by more than a third today, compared to the same time last week.
The service was forced to report a major incident earlier tonight, due to the high volume of calls received.
Bosses have now shared that the service handled 2,266 calls between noon and 8 p.m.
About 15 percent of the calls were Covid-related, and while Mondays are a typically busy day for service anyway, they say they are looking into what caused the spike in calls.
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The main incident has now stopped, but the service has urged people to call only about life-threatening or life-threatening conditions.
Anyone other than an emergency is asked to check their symptoms with 111 online before calling.
Earlier in the evening, unions agreed that staff would forego breaks if necessary, to keep up with demand for the service.
NWAS Unison Branch Secretary Jeff Gorman previously described the situation as “extreme” and said teams have never dealt with a situation like this before.
Meanwhile, a mother who often has to call ambulances for her baby told MEN that she witnessed how busy the service was today firsthand.
Chloe Douglas’ son Cason has underlying health problems, including a hole in his heart, and is prone to unresponsive episodes.
When the 7-month-old had an episode this afternoon, her ward at Stepping Hill advised Chloe to call 999.
Read more of today’s stories here.
She says that in the past, an ambulance would usually come to pick him up in 20 minutes, but today she noticed a significant difference.
Chloe says that when she called again when her symptoms worsened, the ambulance arrived shortly after. In total, he says the wait was just over two hours.
Chloe says she has no criticism of the ambulance service.
(Image: Chloe Douglas)
She said: “The situation cannot be remedied and it is not the fault of the ambulance service.”
“He has underlying health issues so I was happy to bring him in myself, but I followed what they told me when I called the room.
“Normally when I call an ambulance, they are there in about 20 minutes. They said they had received a lot of calls during the day.
“It couldn’t be helped. It’s the time of year and the current situation. They do their best, but there are a limited number of personnel and ambulances on the road.
“It is not the fault of the ambulance service, there is a lot they can do.”
Cason will be staying overnight at Stepping Hill, but he’s doing much better now.
A North West Ambulance spokesperson said in a statement: “Due to the high volume of emergency calls to our service, the trust declared a major incident earlier tonight and we have now withdrawn from this.”
“The main incident was handled according to our usual protocols, but we continue to urge the public to only call us if your condition is life threatening or life threatening.
“Traditionally, Mondays are often a very busy day for us and we are reviewing the reasons behind the sudden and unexpected increase in demand we are experiencing today.
“The type of emergencies that we have received and varied; Covid represents approximately 15% of the activity. From noon to 8:00 p.m. As of today, we have received 2,266 emergency calls to 999, an increase of 36% compared to the same period of the previous Monday.
“We put additional support throughout the Northwest and will continue to closely monitor the situation throughout the night.
“We want to assure the public that we are prioritizing our calls and that you should call 999 if you or the patient are in a life-threatening condition.” If this is the case, we will endeavor to respond to you as quickly as possible.
“For conditions that are not life threatening we will likely direct you to alternative care, please help us first by checking your symptoms through 111 online.
“We know there are patients currently waiting for us and we regret that we cannot respond as quickly as we would like.
“Please continue to help us by not calling us to check where the ambulance is, as we need those lines to be free for those in a life-threatening condition.
“However, if you think you no longer need an ambulance, please let us know.
“We are now beginning to see a reduction in calls and we would like to thank the public for their support.”
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