Millions of Brits would drive to hospital as trust in Ambulance Service is eroded

A staggering 81% of UK drivers would now choose to take the car to accident and emergency, rather than calling an ambulance.

This is according to new research that has been released by used car buying service ChooseMyCar.com. The shocking statistic was part of a larger study into driver behaviour, and shows how Brits no longer feel the Ambulance Service is reliable or safe. These results are likely to rise even further due to the biggest ever ambulance strikes, planned on 6th of February.

The split between the sexes was fairly even, with 80 percent of men saying they would prefer to take the car, compared to 83 percent of women. The results were also very similar between the age groups, with 82 percent of 18-34 years old, 82 percent of 35-54 year olds, and 80 percent of the over 55s preferring cars over ambulances.

Geographically, the results varied a little more widely, but the overwhelming majority all agreed that they wouldn’t be trusting an ambulance to get them to hospital.

In Wales, 91 percent of people stated they would choose the car over the ambulance service – the highest percentage in the UK.

Cardiff was the city with the lowest confidence, with 92 percent choosing not to call an ambulance, Birmingham, Nottingham, and Southampton are the English cities with the lowest confidence in ambulances, with 86 percent choosing to take the car over calling 999.

Close behind is Liverpool and Norwich, with 85 percent and the city with the most confidence in ambulances was Bristol, but even there 65 percent of people said they would prefer to drive than call an ambulance.

Surprisingly, even in London where many don’t drive, 81 percent said they would take the car over calling an ambulance.

Founder of ChooseMyCar.com, Nick Zapolski, said that the statistics prove just how far people’s trust has fallen in NHS ambulances.

Zapolski said, “It’s not really surprising, but it’s sad that the British public don’t feel they can rely on the emergency services. Our statistics show that the vast majority of UK people would use the car over calling 999.

“However, that in itself is problematic, with hospital parking limited and with people piling up in hospital corridors waiting to be seen. We’d urge people to still consider calling an ambulance and not to drive themselves to the hospital if it’s unsafe to do so.”