Doncaster family dialled 999 for an ambulance 838 times in one year

A Doncaster family called 999 more than 800 times last year for an ambulance.

The shocking figures revealed that the unnamed family made 838 calls with 293 ambulances dispatched and a patient was taken to hospital on 114 occasions.

The statistics have been released by health chiefs to show how nuisance calls to 999 are putting a strain on services and putting people who genuinely need ambulances at risk.

Meanwhile, in Sheffield, one family made 2,077 calls to 999 last year - with only five of them warranting medical attention.

Experts are now warning that nuisance calls are putting the lives of genuine callers in danger as makes it harder for them to reach those in need.

It comes as South Yorkshire urged those to think before they phone 999 so 'genuine incidents' can be treated.

The latest NHS figures show it costs around £8 to answer each call to 999 and £255 to take a patient to hospital.

A force spokesman said: 'We plan resources in advance in order to manage the high number of calls and incidents, which we expect.

'We are here to help everybody, and will always try to advise or send people to the correct agency if it is not us, but please think before you call us if it is not a genuine emergency.

'When people call 999 or 101 for none police incidents it wastes valuable time, and means people with genuine calls have to wait longer to get through to us.

'We have a job to do and don’t want to stop genuine incidents from coming through to us.'

LIST OF THE TOP 10 HOMES WHO CALLED 999 THE MOST LAST YEAR

1. Sheffield - 2,077 (86 ambulances dispatched, patient taken to hospital five times)

2. Portsmouth - 1,714 (13 ambulances dispatched, patient taken to hospital once)

3. Doncaster - 838 (293 ambulances dispatched, patient taken to hospital 114 times)

4. Maidstone - 595 (60 ambulances dispatched, patient taken to hospital five times)

5. Soham - 555 (200 ambulances dispatched, patient taken to hospital 81 times)

6. Stevenage - 555 (172 ambulances dispatched, patient taken to hospital 23 times)

7. Hove - 521 (24 ambulances dispatched, patient taken to hospital 14 times)

8. Nottinghamshire - 514 (no data)

9. Swansea - 511 (118 ambulances dispatched, patient taken to hospital 10 times

10. Southend - 473 (39 ambulances dispatched, patient taken to hospital 16 times)