A NEW report reveals how a network of ambulance ‘standby points’ in Bradford are helping the service get to emergencies quicker.

The points are located near ‘hot spots’, where the number of 999 calls is higher, and allows Yorkshire Ambulance Service crews to rest there rather than return to their base station.

A planning application to retain an ambulance standby point in Bradford was granted recently by Bradford Council.

The point is located off Canal Road, on a site which accommodates an industrial facility.

A portable building is situated on site, with a yellow box denoting the ambulance parking bay painted on the road adjacent to the cabin.

The standby point provides rest facilities for ambulance drivers who are better served being located there, with access to basic amenities including a toilet and seating area.

The cabin enables ambulance personnel to remain closer to the high area of activity.

The building and parking bay has been onsite for a number of years previously.

A spokesperson from the Yorkshire Ambulance Service said: “Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust regularly uses a number of standby points across the region for its emergency vehicles, with facilities ranging from simple parking spaces to semi-permanent cabins and other buildings equipped to provide facilities for staff.

“The locations for standby points are reviewed regularly in conjunction with emergency ambulance demand data to ensure resources are best-placed to reach life-threatening emergencies as quickly and safely as possible.”

The Trust has six other standby points currently in operation in the Bradford area. These are Bingley Road in Shipley, Pearson Lane and Daisy Hill Lane junction in Daisy Hill, Barkerend Road and Killinghall Road junction in Bradford Moor, Thornton Road and Quebec Street junction in Goitside, Cooper Lane and Highgate Road junction in Buttershaw and Parkside Road and New Cross Street junction in West Bowling.

The costs associated with locating the temporary buildings and parking bays on site is £16,000, which is then subject to additional land charges, depending on whether the standby point will be located on public or private land.

The ‘Hub and Spoke’ system, which includes kitted out ‘hubs’, enables 999 response times targets to be met, by reaching ‘immediately life threatening’ cases within seven minutes, with 90% of such cases to be met in 15 minutes.

The points were a response to government calls for the Yorkshire Ambulance Service to revise the way in which it locates its vehicles in order to meet the more stringent national NHS response targets.

In July last year, the Secretary of State for Health accepted NHS England’s recommendation to implement new ambulance performance standards. The standards are focused on patients’ clinical needs and help to ensure rapid responses.