Ambulances in England broke down over 7,000 times last year

EMBARGO: 00:01 Monday 28th August

• FOI requests by the Lib Dems show ambulances broke down over 19 times a day in 2022

• Ambulance breakdowns are up by 36% compared to five years ago

• 250 ambulances in operation are over ten years old, with the oldest 14 years old

Ambulances broke down a staggering 7,000 times across England in 2022, data uncovered by the Liberal Democrats has found.

This is equivalent to ambulances breaking down an average of 19 times a day last year.

The data reveals that the situation has worsened significantly over the last five years, rising 36% from 5,159 breakdowns in 2018 to 7,060 times in 2022. It means ambulances have broken down over 30,000 times over the past five years.

Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care Spokesperson Daisy Cooper warned that seriously injured patients risk being “stranded” waiting for an ambulance due to breakdowns. The party urged the Government to fix the “crumbling” state of the NHS and properly fund emergency services.

The Liberal Democrats sent Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to every NHS ambulance trust across England, asking how old their fleet of ambulances are and the number of times an ambulance has broken down in each of the last five years. 

London Ambulance Service NHS Trust saw their emergency vehicles break down over 3800 times in 2022, more than any other trust. The Trust also has the oldest vehicle at 14 years old. 

Six Trusts confirmed that the oldest ambulances in their fleets are over 12 years old. Over 1,000 ambulances in operation are over five years old and nearly 250 are over ten years old. Ambulances at Isle of Wight NHS trust are on average eight years old, revealing a concerning amount of wear and tear for critical vehicles. 

Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP, said: 

“This is yet more evidence that the Conservatives have left our NHS to crumble.

“Patients with life-threatening injuries risk being left stranded waiting in pain for an ambulance due to the Conservatives mismanagement and neglect of our health services.

“To bring an end to this embarrassment the Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to provide the funding that our emergency services need to keep ambulances on the road.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Total number of breakdowns by year:

The Freedom of Information request was sent to 11 NHS ambulance Trusts. Ten responded to the request, with some failing to provide complete data. Five of these Trusts provided information on vehicle breakdowns. 
 

Full data available here.