MORE than 2,000 patients in life-threatening situations were waiting for help from paramedics for longer than they should have been after calling 999 last year, the Warrington Guardian can reveal.

Of 7,018 calls that were considered to be Class A or immediately life threatening, ambulances or rapid response vehicles arrived within the recommended eight minutes for only 4,849 of them.

That left 31 per cent waiting longer than they should have done.

The North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) should arrive at 75 per cent of Class A calls within its target time.

The shock figures were revealed following a Freedom of Information request by the Warrington Guardian.

Helen Jones, MP for Warrington North, said: “I have repeatedly taken up the issue of delays in response times for ambulances in Warrington and am astonished that the trust is still not meeting the targets.

“I have a high regard for the paramedics and technicians who staff the ambulances but I believe that they are being let down by inadequate management.”

The situation is repeated across Class B and Class C calls, which are for serious situations and situations that are neither serious nor life threatening respectively.

In 2008/09 NWAS received 6,958 Class B calls. It should respond to 95 per cent of them within 19 minutes, and made it to 86 per cent.

There were 4,980 Class C calls, of which 95 per cent should be seen in an hour. It made it to 88 per cent of those.

An NWAS spokesman said that considerable improvements had been made since April last year, when the way targets were measured were changed.

Prior to that the clock started ticking once basic details had been obtained by the operator.

Now it starts the moment the call is connected, and getting basic details from a distressed or panicked person can take minutes, she said.

An increase in respiratory illnesses and accidents in Winter months always adds extra pressures, but NWAS has seen an unprecedented level of activity this winter.

The delays prompted 147 complaints since April 2007, but NWAS said there is no evidence that any of the delays caused the death of, or caused serious harm to, any patients.

Helen Southworth MP called the delays ‘unacceptable’ and said she would be meeting with NWAS chief executive John Burnside to discuss how to better the situation in Warrington.

The NWAS spokesman said that two extra rapid response vehicles, one ambulance and one high dependency ambulance have been placed in Warrington.

The organisation is working with the fire service to establish a base at Birchwood and a community first responder scheme has been extended from Widnes to cover Warrington.

Traffic problems in Warrington can create problems she said particularly if the Runcorn Bridge or motorways are closed.

NWAS is commissioned by north west primary care trusts who set its targets. It is expected to cost NHS Warrington £4,243,000 this year.

A spokesman for NHS Warrington said: “In response to this additional pressure the ambulance service initiated contingencies to respond to this, including the cancellation of all annual leave, cancellation of all non urgent activity, management meetings etc, which went some way to alleviate the pressure.”

In May last year NHS Warrington bosses announced plans to double the ambulance fleet in the town, but the NWAS spokesman said she could find no record of it.

In 2007 NWAS apologised to an elderly woman who fell in an Orford street and waited 75 minutes for an ambulance.

It also apologised that year after taking 14 minutes to reach HMP Risley where inmate Patrick Butler had been attacked. He later died.

The NWAS spokesman said that to combat the pressure this winter: * A Regional Operations Centre was established to co-ordinate utilisation of resources across the region.

* Performance recovery plans were developed for individual PCT area level improvement.

* Managers were deployed to A&E departments to support the turnaround process.

* Workshop and radio engineer out of hours support were increased to keep fleet and communications operational. * More operational and clinical staff were deployed together with more ambulances and rapid response vehicles.

* Patient transport services were used to help hospitals with discharges and transfers.

* Measures were introduced to help crews get refreshments quicker and more easily to maximise operational efficiency.

* All non-essential training and meetings were cancelled.

* A media campaign was undertaken to urge the public to 'use their ambulance service wisely'.