Ambulances in the North-east failed to meet targets for getting to life or death emergencies in November, new figures show.
But for an average extra 35 seconds, the North East Ambulance Service says the target would have been met.
The NEAS saw 67.4% of Red 1 emergency calls - the highest priority - arriving within eight minutes. The target is 75%.
The trust also failed to meet the same target for Red 2 category calls - all other blue light calls - with 71.6% arriving within the eight minute target.
One in seven emergency callers (14.5%) given advice over the phone by NEAS were back in contact within 24 hours - the highest proportion in England.
But a NEAS spokesperson said that when looking at red performance as a whole in November, 75% of patients were reached within eight minutes and 35 seconds. And of all Red 1 cases, 95% received an ambulance response within 14 minutes and 22 seconds – up from just over 16 minutes in October.
The spokesperson said: “Like ambulance and other A&E emergency services across the country, we are currently experiencing a high level of demand, putting us under severe pressure.
“Throughout November 2014, our 999 Contact Centre answered 34,115 calls – nearly 5,000 more than November 2013. Along with an increase in calls, we have also seen a growth in demand for our response to life-threatening emergencies, which take highest priority.”
Almost half the service’s overall activity in November was made up of the 15,311 “Red” incidents.
The spokesperson added: “We plan for winter pressures, together with our NHS colleagues, well in advance and operate a number of initiatives to mitigate pressures. Nevertheless, all NHS emergency services are experiencing extreme pressure this winter, with some of the highest levels of demand we have ever seen. Inevitably, this has meant that in some cases, our response times have been affected.
“We would like to take this opportunity to remind members of the public to please think before you call us and reserve 999 for life-threatening emergencies only. Non-life threatening calls can be made through the NHS 111 service and many conditions can be treated via alternative pathways, such as visiting your GP or your local pharmacist.”
Across the country, 71.8% of Category A Red 1 calls saw an ambulance arrive within eight minutes. Three trusts achieved the Red 1 75% standard: West Midlands, South East Coast, and Isle of Wight. London (64.3%) had the smallest proportion for the fourth month running.
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