Ambulance staff praised after big rise in Shropshire 999 calls

A combination of Halloween, Diwali, a payday weekend and an extra hour due to the clocks changing saw West Midlands Ambulance Service deal with hundreds of extra calls on October 30 compared to an average Sunday.

In Shropshire, crews dealt with 244 emergency calls on October 30 - up from 169 the previous weekend.

Now now ambulance trust bosses have heaped praise on those who worked that day for their effort and dedication.

Mark Gough, the trust's assistant chief ambulance officer, said: "The combination of a payday weekend, the clock change and various celebrations meant we had put additional resources on to cope with the expected extra demand.

"Despite the number of 999 calls, staff worked incredibly hard to ensure patients continued to receive excellent care."

In total, the Trust received 3,591 emergency calls during the Sunday which saw control room staff and front-line crews work the third busiest day of the year so far, beaten only by New Year's Day when they had 3,807 calls and July 19 when the trust dealt with 3,797 emergency calls on a day when temperatures soared across the region.

Shropshire saw the biggest rise in the number of calls last weekend compared to any other area in the region. There was an 18 per cent rise in Staffordshire and Herefordshire seeing just a one per cent increase.

It comes after data revealed paramedics were sent on 34 hoax calls in Shropshire since 2014 – with last year seeing 16 hoax calls.

It is thought there will be more calls which are a hoax but can't be confirmed as such.

Ambulance service bosses urged people to think long and hard before making a hoax call, warning in the worst case scenario it could lead to another patient's death.

Murray MacGregor, spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service, said: "Any hoax call means vital resources are not able to respond to genuine 999 calls such as cardiac arrest, heart attacks and strokes.

"Ultimately, if paramedics are dealing with a hoax call, a patient could die as a result of it taking longer for us to get there than it would have done."