Between midnight on New Year’s Day and 7.00 am, call assessors based in Stafford and Brierley Hill handled 1,510 calls. That compares with 1,386 calls during the same hours at the start of 2025, an increase of around 9 per cent. It was the second busiest New Year period for the service in recent years.
Looking at the wider picture, across 31 December and 1 January combined, West Midlands Ambulance Service received 9,289 calls in total. While still high, that figure was slightly lower than the 9,965 calls taken over the same two days the previous year.
Anthony Marsh, Chief Executive of West Midlands Ambulance Service, said the period once again highlighted the scale of demand faced by the Trust.
“A massive thank you to the hundreds of staff and volunteers who worked over this period, many giving up time with their family and friends to work additional shifts and support the service through these notoriously busy periods,” he said.
“It’s not just those on the road, but the team in our control rooms and also the staff who support these colleagues in areas such as vehicle preparation, mechanics, stores, distribution and IT. It is a real team effort and I am immensely grateful for all that you have done to help the people of the West Midlands in their hour of need.”
The figures reflect a pattern seen most years, with emergency services preparing for a sharp rise in demand around New Year, particularly overnight, when pressures tend to peak.
