As the nation prepares to face record-high temperatures with some areas reaching high 30, ambulance services have shared a warning.
With the London ambulance services on the highest level of alert and are under “extreme pressure”, trusts are confirming.
It comes as a combination of Covid absences among staff, and difficulty caused by the hot weather.
As well as ongoing delays in handing over patients to A&E have left ambulance trusts struggling to cope.
The London Ambulance Service confirmed to PA news agency that they are on the highest level of alert after the Health Service Journal (HSJ) reported this was the case across England.
As a London Ambulance Service spokesman said it had moved to REAP 4 “as a result of a sustained demand on both our 999 and 111 services and with hot weather set to continue over the next few days”.
He added: “The public can support us by only calling 999 in the event of a life-threatening emergency and by taking steps to keep hydrated and stay out of the sun at the hottest periods of the day.”
Now the Shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, said: “Twelve years of Conservative mismanagement has left our ambulance service in crisis.
“Patients are left for far longer than is safe and lives are being lost as a result.”
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