THERE has been a sharp rise in the number of 999 and 111 calls compared to previous years in the NHS.  

Thousands of NHS staff were working over the festive period with almost 20,000 emergency calls taken by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust between December 24 and December 27. 

In total, the Trust took 19,078 emergency calls over the festive four days.

This compares to 17,572 for the same dates in 2021 and is equivalent to an 8.6 per cent increase.

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Over the festive period, Trust received the most 111 calls on Christmas Eve. 

On December 24, the Trust took 5,982 calls which compares to the 2,961 calls received the previous year, which is a 102 per cent increase. 

However, the most calls received on the 999 number were on December 27 and the Trust took 5,472 calls compared to 5,160 calls last year which is a 6 per cent increase. 

On Christmas Day staff took 4,260 calls from people who rang 999 compared to 3,921 calls received the previous year, which is a 9 per cent increase.  

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Trust also took 4,683 calls from people who rang 111 on Christmas Day compared to 3,228 calls received the previous year, which is a 45 per cent increase.  

On Boxing Day, 4,825 calls were received compared to 4,517 calls in 2021, which is a 7 per cent increase. 

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Anthony Marsh, Chief Executive, said: “I would like to thank the many thousands of staff who worked over the Christmas period while most people were enjoying time with their family and friends.

“It is not just the staff on the road who worked so hard; I want to particularly note the work of the staff in our control rooms. 

"These staff are at the forefront of everything that we do, finding out where we are required but also what is wrong with the patient so that our ambulance crews know what they are going into.

“The task at hand for our call handlers and dispatchers is often just as difficult as that experienced by our road staff; they all work exceptionally hard.

“I also want to thank the staff who support these staff, be it the vehicle preparation operatives who clean, fuel and restock the ambulances; the fleet mechanics who make sure we always have ambulances available but also the managers who look after the staff - it is a real team effort.”