Alarming ambulance wait times threatens disabled children’s lives

Medical experts have warned disabled children’s healthcare plan needs to be re-thought because of exceptionally long ambulance wait times.

Due to a lack of hospital beds ambulance teams have found themselves queuing outside of emergency departments, leaving them unable to respond to 999 calls in a timely way. 

As a result of this, the British Academy of Childhood Disability (BACD) has warned the government must act fast to help this issue. Disabled children risk there health rapidly declining at any given point, showing quick emergency care is vital for their condition. 

Despite ambulance wait times hitting record long waits – in December 2022 ambulance crews took 90 minutes to respond to 999 calls – the beginning of the year saw wait times reduce to 32 minutes, casting cope for disabled children.

However, the strikes that ambulance workers have recently partaken in have caused serious delays. 

According to the BACD, an estimated 100,000 children have life-limiting conditions or need regular ventilator support in the UK.

Dr Toni Wolff, Chair of BACD, told the BBC: ‘As part of [a disabled child’s] healthcare plan, we would normally say, ‘if the child starts to deteriorate, call for an ambulance and it will be there within 10 or 20 minutes’, now we can’t give that reassurance.’

Displaying that disabled people need better care, the most recent Census figures show 17.7% of people in England have a disability. In addition to this, the latest Care Quality Commission survey suggests 46% of those who responded after attending A&E were disabled.

Dr Adrian Boyle, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said the medical system is currently failing to help people with a disability.

He said: ‘They are particularly disadvantaged when it comes to emergency care, partly because departments are so full and the hospitals are so full that they’re ending up having to wait a lot longer in areas which are not well designed for them.

‘We’re looking after people in corridors and we’re looking after people in inappropriate clinical areas. And that can’t be good for somebody who comes in with a lot of equipment or has complex needs.’

Photo by Hans Moerman