Southend MP joins ambulance crew on the frontline
Date: 13 September 2024Southend East and Rochford MP Bayo Alaba joined an ambulance crew on a shift in the city to see first-hand the extraordinary work of the ambulance service.
Mr Alaba met the crew at Southend ambulance station before heading out in the ambulance to respond to medical emergencies. He was able to learn more about how the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) operates, the types of incidents they respond to, and how hospital handover delays have an impact on ambulance availability.
EEAST employs over 5,000 people and provides the emergency ambulance service for Essex and the whole east of England region – a population of over 6 million people.
Southend has the fastest ambulance response times in mid and south Essex, with average response times for Category 1 incidents – the most serious emergencies – at 6 minutes 24 seconds between July 2023 and July 2024. This is despite an increase in demand on the service over the past 12 months.
Bayo Alaba MP said: "I have been really keen to visit our emergency services since I was elected. I wanted to see them in action, to get a sense of the challenges they face, and to understand what I can do to support them in my role as MP.
"The ambulance, fire and police services do an unbelievable job, and deal on a daily basis with unimaginable pressure. Their professionalism, compassion and sense of public service came across during all of the conversations I have had with them.
"I will be doing everything I can to represent and support them."
Photo caption: Bayo Alaba MP (left) with Ryan Kent, Local Operations Manager at EEAST, outside Southend ambulance station.
