PATIENTS at GP surgeries would be better off dialling 999 from the car park than inside the building, according to guidelines set by ambulance bosses.

Dr Joe McManners, of Manor Surgery in Headington, is concerned about a protocol that means people who are with a GP or healthcare professional could wait up to 30 minutes, even if they are in urgent need of hospital care.

The chairman of the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group has now called for the protocol to be clarified and reviewed.

He said: “At surgeries there have been long waits for ambulances called on a 999 basis – it’s unsatisfactory.”

Under current guidelines, a 999 call – known as a red call – should be answered within eight minutes.

But according to the OCCG board a protocol exists whereby South Central Ambulance Service would downgrade a red call to a 30-minute wait if it came from within healthcare facilities.

Dr McManners added: “In one case in Oxfordshire at the end of last year a female patient who had previously suffered a heart attack was suffering chest pain.

“It took between half-an-hour and an hour for an ambulance to arrive.

“We want clarity on this. We need to establish if this protocol is being consistently applied.

“It could be quicker to call for an ambulance from the car park of a GP surgery than from inside the surgery itself and that can’t be right.”

Dr McManners said another case had been reported to the OCCG where a patient suffered a stroke and the ambulance response time was 30 minutes because the protocol had been used.

He added: “It would have been better if the response had been within eight minutes.

“There clearly is a group of patients at surgeries who need urgent transport and we need clarity on this protocol. We have made them aware of our concerns.”

A report to the OCCG on Thursday informed board members SCAS had been told the “downgrade” to a 30-minute wait was not a sufficient response.

It added: “GPs from each locality have been invited to meet with SCAS to review the process and discuss how needs should be met.”

Luci Stephens, SCAS director of operations – clinical co-ordination centres, said: “With the introduction of NHS Pathways in 2011 by the Department of Health, the response to receiving an emergency call from a GP for a patient was amended at national level from the eight-minute target for a red call.

“The red target demands that within eight minutes there needs to be someone at the patient’s side with an AED (automatic external defibrillator) and trained to use it, which a GP or other healthcare professional clearly is.

“Currently, when SCAS receives an emergency call from a GP or other healthcare professional for a patient who requires an emergency transport to hospital, SCAS will always dispatch the nearest available transporting ambulance to the patient.

“For reporting measures to commissioners, these calls are categorised as Green 2 (requiring a response within 30 minutes) though it is important to stress that SCAS aims to dispatch an ambulance to the scene well before that time.”