THE ambulance service covering Hampshire is one of only two in England currently meeting performance targets.

The latest figures released by NHS England earlier this month show that South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) is one of only two ambulance trusts in England that is currently meeting all its national performance targets for this current year.

All ambulance trusts are measured against the Ambulance Response Programme targets for meeting all categories of emergency 999 calls received.

These cover: 'life-threatening calls', 'emergency calls', 'urgent calls' and 'less urgent calls'.

The figures run from the start of the financial year and the latest data from NHS England covers the period to October.

Mark Ainsworth, director of operations at SCAS, said: “I would like to thank all of our staff – from our planning and scheduling teams who ensure we have the right levels of emergency cover, our make ready and maintenance teams who look after our vehicles, to those in our control rooms who answer the 999 calls and arrange the right help for our patients, to those working 24-7 across the South Central region on our frontline ambulances and rapid response vehicles, as well as our volunteers and co-responders.

"This is excellent performance at a time of increasing demand on our emergency service and it is only possible thanks to the hard work, dedication and commitment of those people.

“Whilst the peak winter and festive period will no doubt again be challenging right across the NHS, I hope it is reassuring for the people who live and work in our region that our emergency 999 performance is not only better than this time last year, but is one of the very best in the country.”