Ambulance hold-ups of 30 minutes or more at Queen's Hospital's and Derby Royal's A&Es hit one in six patients during the Christmas to New Year period - sparking fears for public safety.

Ambulance bosses have issued a warning to regulators and commissioners that patients calling 999 could be put at risk because of the delays.

In the final week of 2017, from December 25 to December 31, 391 ambulances arrived at Queen's Hospital, in Burton, over the period, of which 55 (14.06 per cent) were delayed by more than 30 minutes.

Queen's Hospital is just one of the hospitals under the trust's umbrella
Burton's Queen's Hospital

Over at Derby Royal, 934 ambulances arrived over the final week of the year - with 158 (16.92 per cent) delayed by over half an hour.

Out of the 55 delayed at Queen's, 13 (23.63 per cent) were left waiting with their patients for more than hour, with six (3.7 per cent) kept on hold waiting for a free bed and/or A&E staff at Derby Royal.

Hospitals are required to accept the clinical handover of a patient from an ambulance crew within fifteen minutes of their arrival.

The ambulance crew is then required to return to their vehicle, check the stock and clean it, and make themselves ready for the next 999 emergency within 15 minutes (total turnaround time of 30 minutes).

When NHS and social care services are significantly busy the ambulance service can experience hospital handover delays.

This means that hospital emergency department staff are not able to accept a clinical handover from ambulance crews in a timely manner.

Queen's Hospital

The ambulance delays occur when paramedics are forced to stay with patients to keep them safe.

Some have to wait in the back of ambulances, although many end up in waiting areas and side rooms before nurses and doctors become available.

Both East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) and West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) share the area, which serves Queen's Hospital and Derby Royal.

Ben Holdaway, the East Midlands Ambulance Service deputy director of operations, said it has repeatedly stressed concerns for patient safety as a result of delays and that hold-ups lead to a delayed response to 999 calls.

He said: "If our ambulances are at hospital with a patient they are not able to respond to new calls coming in. Subsequently, patients in the community can experience a delayed response to their 999 call.

Royal Derby Hospital will be one of the hospitals affected by the merger
Royal Derby Hospital will be one of the hospitals affected by the proposed merger

"We have continued to escalate our concerns to our commissioners and regulators about patient safety, and we continue to work very closely with NHS and social care partners to improve the welfare of our patients and staff."

EMAS also said that the public can help with delays by getting early advice from GPs, their local pharmacy or by calling the NHS 111 service to treat illnesses and injuries before they deteriorate.

If patients have a long-term condition, they are urged to take their prescribed medication to help manage it.

People suffering a more serious illness or injury can seek guidance on the services available to them via NHS111 or can get treatment and care from their nearest Urgent Care Centre - details can be found on the NHS Choices website at www.nhs.uk.

West Midlands Ambulance Service
West Midlands Ambulance Service

A spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service told the Burton Mail that within its remit, Queen's Hospital is "very nearly top of the tree," and has the sixth best rate of turnaround in its 22-strong remit.

Queen's Hospital average turnaround time with WMAS is 30 minutes and 48 seconds.

A spokesman said: "Burton Hospital works seriously hard to turn everyone around as quickly as possible.

"Compared to some of the other hospitals, they are brilliant. They are very nearly top of the tree in the region, ranked sixth out of 22 hospitals."