Overview

This bill mandates that ambulance services in England publish more detailed and localized reports on ambulance response times. The aim is to increase transparency and accountability regarding ambulance service performance at a more granular level.

Description

The Ambulance Waiting Times (Local Reporting) Bill requires the Secretary of State to create regulations by July 31st, 2022. These regulations will force ambulance trusts in England to publish monthly online reports within two weeks of the month's end.

These reports must include:

• Response times for categories 1-4, broken down by Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) area and postcode.
• Detailed explanations for all incidents where target response times were missed (the specific margin for this will be defined in the regulations).

The bill defines "ambulance trusts" as both NHS Trusts and NHS Foundation Trusts. Response time categories (1-4) will use the definitions from the NHS England Ambulance Response Programme. The regulations will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny.

The bill will come into force on the day it is passed and applies to England.

Government Spending

The bill does not directly specify any new government spending. The costs associated with the data collection and publication required by the regulations would likely fall on existing ambulance service budgets.

Groups Affected

• Ambulance Trusts (NHS Trusts and NHS Foundation Trusts): These organizations will have to implement new data collection and reporting processes.
• The Public: The public will gain access to more detailed and localized information about ambulance response times, allowing for greater scrutiny of ambulance service performance in their area.
• Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs): CCGs will be able to see how ambulance response times vary within their areas, which may help with resource allocation and service planning.
• Parliament: Parliament will have the power to annul any regulations made under the Act.

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