Coronavirus: North West ambulance service requests army help as Covid calls continue to surge

Troops needed to drive vehicles and deal with patients as pressure continues to mount in north west

Ambulances (EPA)

One of England’s biggest ambulance services has requested help from the army to deal with an ongoing surge in coronavirus calls and high staff absence rates.

The North West Ambulance Service – which covers Greater Manchester and Merseyside as well as Lancashire and Cumbria – has asked for up to 120 troops to be deployed driving vehicles and dealing with patients.

The plea comes as 999 calls in the region continue to flood in at 20 per cent above average, while staff sickness has grown so widespread that, at one point this month, around 1,000 of the 6,000 strong workforce were off.

"We've never done anything like this before,” said Jeff Gorman, NWAS Unison branch secretary, adding: “They have made the request but it has not yet been approved. If that is refused then the trust will be turning to the fire brigade for assistance.”

The service is not the first to seek such help.

Troops have already been assisting paramedics in Wales, Kent and the South East. In London, Hampshire and Somerset, firefighters have been called in to drive ambulances.

Nor is the current situation considered as severe as when NWAS declared a major incident in November amid ambulances queueing outside hospitals and patients being left in corridors.

But speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Mr Gorman added: "Although we are no longer near the level in calls when we had to declare a major incident, we have still got patients waiting a long time for an ambulance. This is why we need extra capacity."

One in four patients in Greater Manchester’s hospital beds are now suffering from Covid-19, figures show. People with the bug are currently being admitted at twice the rate they were in mid December.

NWAS has been asked for comment by The Independent.