Time-wasting hoax calls to ambulance service up by 64%, new data shows
The number of hoax incidents attended by London Ambulance Service (LAS) crews has risen by 64 per cent in the last three years, a new investigation has revealed.
According to new figures obtained by Medical Negligence Assist, the LAS has wasted thousands of hours responding in-person to more than 1,800 hoax 999 calls since 2021.
The service also revealed every area in London where hoax call-outs were made, with Newham logging 116 false incidents in the last three years, more than any other London borough.
It was followed by Redbridge and Southwark where ambulance crews attended 79 and 61 hoax incidents face-to-face, respectively.
In Lambeth and Westminster there were 42 false call outs whilst Lewisham and Croydon both recorded 40.
Darren Farmer, director of ambulance operations for the LAS, said: “Hoax calls to 999 are a criminal offence because they threaten lives.
“Every hoax call we attend takes valuable resources away from genuine emergencies and can delay ambulances reaching patients with a life-threatening illness or injury.”
These incidents were deemed “apparent hoaxes” by the attending ambulance crews.
In 2021/2022, LAS crews responded-person to 466 incidents that turned out to be time-wasting hoaxes, wasting a total of 511 hours of the service’s time – equivalent to 21 days.
The following financial year, 606 face-to-face incidents were marked as hoax calls by LAS crews who wasted a further 677 hours.
Between 2023/24, 764 false call outs were attended to by the service in London amounting to a staggering 909 hours or 37 days of wasted time in total.
Mr Farmer said: “We work with the police to prosecute where possible as this behaviour is completely unacceptable and callers can face imprisonment or a fine.
“If a caller repeatedly impacts our ability to answer calls we can stop them from connecting to emergency services for 8 hours. However, we have to treat every 999 call as genuine until we can rule it out.”
(Picture: Oxyman/ Wikimedia Commons)