An ambulance boss has blamed delays in handing over patients at hospital for slow emergency response times.
Last month, 175 patients waited for more than an hour in an ambulance after arriving at Broomfield Hospital’s accident and emergency department.
The target handover time for patients is 15 minutes but East of England Ambulance Service failed to keep to this time in 1340 cases in December.
These delays equated to 475 hours - or 39 shifts - lost for ambulance crews.
The figures compare to 128 waits of more than 60 minutes at Southend Hospital, 25 at Basildon Hospital and 242 at Colchester General Hospital in December.
Anthony Marsh, chief executive of the East of England Ambulance Service, said crews are unable to respond to emergency calls because they are waiting at hospitals.
Dr Marsh, in a report to the board, said: "The delays in hospital handover preventing ambulances from responding to further patients are reaching intolerable levels.
"The delays are outside of our control, but prevent us from responding to the next emergency call we may be holding."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel