Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of South Central Ambulance Service’s decision on crew break arrangements on ambulance wait times in Newbury.

No specific assessment has been made. Operational arrangements such as scheduling and management of crew breaks is the responsibility of individual ambulance trusts which are required to comply with United Kingdom employment law and National Health Service contractual standards.

The South Central Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust is currently piloting a new approach to ambulance crew breaks. The change is designed for the benefit of both staff and patients, supporting crews to take their meal breaks at allocated times alongside responding effectively to patient demand by maintaining coverage over the region during peak periods.