AMBULANCE chiefs in the south west have stood down its ‘critical incident’ status which had been in place following an upsurge in demand.

South West Ambulance Service confirmed the incident level had been reduced but warned the service remained ‘under pressure’.

It is appealing to the public to only call 999 in a life-threatening emergency and otherwise, to use alternative sources of help such as 111 online.

The announcement comes ahead of the next two planned days of industrial action.

Ambulance staff in UNISON and the GMB are due to stage another walkout on Wednesday January 11 and UNISON members will be striking again on Monday January 23.

SWAST strategic commander Rich Marlow said:  ‘Following a review of key criteria, including the number of patients waiting for an ambulance, the command structure at SWASFT has taken the decision to stand down the critical incident which has been in place since Wednesday 28 December.

‘Whilst this is positive news I cannot stress enough that the service still remains under significant pressure and it is therefore crucial that we maintain our focus over the coming days and weeks to prevent further pressure on the service.

‘I would like to thank the public for taking on board the need to only call 999 in life-threatening or serious emergencies requiring our immediate assistance over the New Year period. 

‘To ensure that our control rooms teams and emergency responders can continue to respond to patients where there is a life or death emergency, I would urge everyone to continue using 999 appropriately as many people have done over the weekend.’

The critical incident was called on December 28 when the service was facing 700 calls waiting to be dispatched.

The service continues to ‘urgently’ ask people to think carefully before dialling 999 due to ‘extreme demand’.

The critical incident was declared because of the pressures the service was experiencing which affected its ability to respond to patients.

At 11.30am on Wednesday, December 28 there were 482 patients waiting for ambulances across the South West, with 106 patients awaiting handover at hospital.