Ambulance Handover Delays Surge in Black Country, Costing Over 10,000 Hours
Ambulance Delays Surge in Black Country Hospitals

Ambulance Handover Delays Surge in Black Country, Costing Over 10,000 Hours

Ambulances in the Black Country region lost thousands of hours while stuck outside hospitals, waiting to hand over patients, according to recent NHS figures. The data, presented to the NHS Birmingham and Solihull and NHS Black Country Joint ICB Cluster Board meeting, indicates a significant increase in the number of hours lost due to these delays.

December 2025 Sees Sharp Rise in Lost Hours

In December 2025, the number of ambulance hours lost over 15 minutes reached 10,581, marking an increase of more than 1,400 hours compared to November's figure of 9,258. This performance, however, shows an improvement from the same period last year, when 14,062 hours were lost.

Trust Performance Breakdown

The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) recorded the highest individual figure, with 3,749 hours lost over 15 minutes. Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust followed closely with 3,606 hours lost. Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust reported 1,969 ambulance hours lost, while Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust (WHT) had the best performance at 1,257 hours lost.

Actions to Address the Issue

A report to the board outlined a series of measures in place to tackle the problem and reduce lost time. These include:

  • Winter plans for each trust, with progress discussed at Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) Operational Group and Programme Board meetings.
  • A Call before Convey group to maximize the use of out-of-hospital pathways.
  • Collaboration between out-of-hospital and UEC programmes to ensure full utilization of hospital avoidance pathways.
  • Daily monitoring of performance and activity by the Strategic Command Centre, using the SHREWD live stream system to track A&E, ambulance, 111, admissions, discharges, patient transport, and virtual ward capacity.
  • Twice-daily silver calls to address pressures in real time.

The report emphasized that these actions aim to improve ambulance handover efficiency and reduce delays, which have become a critical concern for emergency services in the region.