Tackling rising ambulance call demand

Ambulance services facing record call volumes

Ambulance services continue to face sustained pressure. According to The NHS Alliance NHS Activity Tracker, there were more than 737,000 incidents in February 2026 - the highest February figure since records began in 2017. This ongoing demand is placing significant strain on the system and affecting overall performance.

Despite these challenges, there are encouraging signs of progress. Response times for both the most urgent and emergency calls have improved, and hospital handover delays have reduced.

However, performance still falls short of national standards. The publication also notes that the target response time of 7 minutes for the most critical incidents has not been met since 2021, suggesting that, while improvements are being made, challenges remain in meeting national standards.

This reflects a wider and ongoing challenge. Although ambulance services are becoming more efficient, the consistently high volume of incidents entering the system continues to place pressure on response times and overall service delivery.

Supporting better call handling

Our Communications Solutions and Associated Telephony Services framework can support how organisations manage and respond to incoming calls, such as enabling more effective handling and routing, to ensure they reach the right service.

Our Financial Leasing Solutions framework can support how organisations in accessing the communications tools they need without the upfront capital investment. Through ICT and Telecommunications Equipment and Software (LOT 6), it enables you to spread the cost of solutions such as contact centre platforms into manageable payments, supporting organisations to spread costs over time where investment in infrastructure is required.