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

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

These are Category 2 calls in England, such as strokes and heart attacks. Before the pandemic is the average month in 2019: 23 minutes

Latest figures

Series	Period	Value
Mean	September 2026	31.3 min
90th centile (9 in 10 reached within)	September 2026	63.9 min

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.