A growing number of seriously ill people are going to A&E on their own in what is being called an ‘Uber ambulance crisis’ because 999 response times are too slow.
Emergency physicians said that while they understood people were acting out of “desperation,” they were taking a serious risk to their health, especially if they drove themselves.
NHS data obtained by the Liberal Democrats shows that 504,276 people needing “very urgent emergency care” made their own way to A&E in England in 2023. That was 141,345 (39%) more than the 362,931 who arrived without an ambulance in 2019. .
The number of elderly people taking such measures has increased significantly. About 20% (96,000) of those who went to A&E alone or with a companion last year were aged 65 or over – a figure that has risen by 45% since 2019.
However, the actual number of patients going to A&E on their own is almost certainly much higher, as only 53 of the 140 NHS trusts from which the Lib Dems sought figures provided a full data set.
Dr. Adrian Boyle, chairman of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine of A&E doctors, said: “These figures are shocking. It is very worrying that people, especially the elderly, have lost confidence in the system and are choosing to take themselves or their loved ones to hospital out of desperation.”
He added: “The health risks are significant and may result in delayed care for time-critical conditions, and there is a risk of driving while seriously ill. This well-intentioned action could actually have the unintended consequence of actually delaying access to care.”
Guardian readers told dramatic stories of deciding to take themselves or a family member to hospital when they couldn’t get an ambulance quickly enough.
A woman in Bristol, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “I fainted at the top of the stairs because my GP was quite dismissive of my low iron problems and I often felt dizzy. I fell down the stairs, broke my collarbone and hit my head.
“A piece of collarbone was straining my skin in my chest and there was blood coming out of a cut on my head and I had no idea if I had a concussion. It was very scary.
“I called 999. I was told there would be no ambulance coming. They said, “Well, it looks like you’re okay to talk, so go in on your own.”
“My husband drove me in. I couldn’t wear a seat belt because the belt pressed against the exposed bone.”
Some trusts have seen what Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem health spokesperson, called a “staggering” increase in the number of seriously ill patients turning up at A&E without an ambulance. The number of arrivals at York and Scarborough hospitals has increased eightfold in the past five years – from 808 to 7,669.
Cooper said: “This Conservative government has created an ‘Uber-ambulance’ crisis. With ambulance response times soaring, more and more people needing urgent care are making their own way to A&E rather than risking painful wait times.”
Rory Deighton, director of the acute network at the NHS Confederation, which represents hospital trusts, said: “It is worrying that so many patients have felt they had to take the risk of transporting themselves or a loved one to hospital in an emergency . ”
The increase in numbers shows “the enormous pressure the emergency care system is under, after a decade of underinvestment in NHS capital, estates, workforces and social care,” he said, adding that the NHS does not have long response times may allow. become a ‘new normal’.
The Department of Health and Social Care did not respond directly to the LibDems’ findings. A spokesperson said there were 50% more ambulance staff than in 2010, new vehicles were in use and average waiting times for Category 2 emergencies in 2023-2024 were 13 minutes faster than the previous year.
“We are doing everything we can to ensure people get the emergency care they need and urge anyone who needs an ambulance to call 999,” they said.