‘Critical Incident’ declared by South East Coast Ambulance Service

However, they are asking patients to consider “alternatives” to calling 999 – urging “the public to only call in the event of a serious emergency”.

A spokesman said: “Following a significant IT issue overnight, we have declared a Critical Incident this morning – 17 Nov 2021.

“Staff are working extremely hard as we continue to respond to patients.

“We would ask that you consider alternatives to 999, inc NHS 111 online, unless absolutely essential.”

“We’re grateful for the support we’re receiving from other ambulance trusts & our system partners

“As our staff continue to work on resolving the issues, we would like to thank the public for their continued support and patience at this time.”

Following a significant IT issue overnight, we have declared a Critical Incident this morning – 17 Nov 2021. Staff are working extremely hard as we continue to respond to patients. We would ask that you consider alternatives to 999, inc NHS 111 online, unless absolutely essential pic.twitter.com/O9k7iej3nw

— South East Coast Ambulance (@SECAmbulance) November 17, 2021

The NHS defines a critical incident as “any localised incident where the level of disruption results in the organisation temporarily or permanently losing its ability to deliver critical services, patients may have been harmed or the environment is not safe requiring special measures and support from other agencies, to restore normal operating functions”.

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