Will the Cabinet Secretary confirm the precise threshold for declaring a critical incident for ambulance response?
Answered by Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs | Answered on 14/01/2025
Declaration of a critical incident is an operational decision based on the realities of demand and capacity at the time. There are a number of variables in informing the decision-making and there is no set formula in declaring a critical incident, but such a declaration signals to the wider system:
· the pressures being experienced by the Trust;
· the risk of patient harm from extended community waits; and
· the heightened need to do everything possible to release ambulances being held at hospitals.