Beverley and Holderness MP Graham Stuart has voiced concern over ambulance response times in rural East Yorkshire.

Mr Stuart has written to Yorkshire Ambulance Service chief executive Rod Barnes following evidence of substantial local variation in emergency ambulance response performance.

Mr Stuart said he was concerned that the issue of local variation had not gone away despite previous commitments by the ambulance service to tackle the problem.

He has asked why response times in the HU11 and HU12 postcode areas remain below other local areas – despite being closer to hospitals in Hull than other better-performing postcodes.

Mr Stuart has also asked YAS to compare its data with similar rural and coastal areas across England to check how the service is performing against other areas of low population density.

“It is worrying that performance in HU11 and HU12 postcodes remains substantially worse than that in HU19,” he said.

“The former are in closer proximity and en route to Hull Royal Infirmary.”

Mr Stuart said he had asked the ambulance service to drill down into the reasons for this variation and to provide clear data to show it is being addressed.

He added: “At present, I am worried that my constituents are being subjected to a postcode lottery when it comes to emergency ambulance response times.”

Mr Barnes said patients in the area were receiving a service in line with other parts of the UK, as pressure continues to increase of ambulance services nationally.

He said: “We are confident that patients in the Hull and East Riding area are receiving a safe and responsive service and our response times are aligned to the national averages,” he said.

Overall demand for emergency ambulances is increasing year-on-year and this pressure is reflected in all NHS services across the whole country, Mr Barnes told the Hull Daily Mail.

“We remain focused on working more efficiently and effectively, including in a closer and more integrated way with our NHS colleagues and emergency service partners.”