Busy Christmas for West Midlands Ambulance Service

Thousands of paramedics, call handlers and other support staff worked over the festive period while most people enjoyed a break.

Over the three days of the Christmas Bank Holiday, from December 24-26, West Midlands Ambulance Service took 13,274 emergency calls.

Santa visited Worcester's ambulance depot on Christmas Eve (Image: WMAS)

This compares to 13,606 for the same dates in 2022 as the period proved to be another consistently busy few days for the staff working.

The Trust dealt with 4,339 calls on Christmas Eve compared to 4,521 last year. On Christmas Day the number dipped slightly to 4,255 in 2023, just five fewer than in 2022.

There were 4,680 calls on Boxing Day this year, compared to 4,825 last year.

Trust chief executive Anthony Marsh 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.

Ambulance service staff celebrate Christmas at one of the Trust's hubs (Image: WMAS)

“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.”

The Trust is currently recruiting for a range of roles including student paramedics.

The public is being urged to play their part in supporting the NHS this winter by coming forward for their flu and Covid vaccines and using services like NHS 111 online for non-urgent advice.

People are also asked not to call back to see where the ambulance is or if there is an ETA - only call back if the patient’s condition has worsened or you no longer need an ambulance.