Public services

Ambulances in England took a mean of 31 minutes 18 seconds to reach Category 2 calls, such as strokes and heart attacks, in September 2026

Mean and 90th centile time from a Category 2 call to an ambulance arriving, England, monthly, August 2017 to September 2026. Minutes.

Latest figures

Findings

• Ambulances took 31 minutes on average to reach emergencies such as strokes in September 2026, 8 minutes more than before the pandemic

Notes

• Category 2 calls are emergencies that are serious but not immediately life-threatening, such as strokes, heart attacks, sepsis and major burns. Category 1 (life-threatening, such as cardiac arrest) is answered first; Categories 3 and 4 are less urgent.
• The clock starts at the earliest of the caller's problem being identified, an ambulance being sent, or 4 minutes after the call is connected, and stops when the first ambulance arrives.
• The categories began in August 2017. Ambulance services moved to them between August 2017 and April 2018, so England's figures before April 2018 cover only the services that had.
• London Ambulance Service did not report for October and November 2022, so England's figures for those months leave it out, and its September 2022 figures cover only 1 to 22 September.
• This is England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland measure ambulance response separately.

Sources

• NHS England, Ambulance Quality Indicators: Systems Indicators

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