HEALTH minister Norman Lamb has called for a shake-up of ambulance response times in rural areas following the death of a 26-year-old man.

The North Norfolk MP said rural areas were often neglected as ambulance trusts focused on easier urban response times to meet targets.

It followed the death of Peter Nelson from Blakeney, who died of a brain haemorrage having waited two hours for an ambluance.

Targets mean paramedics should reach the most urgent 999 calls within eight minutes and get a vehicle to patients within 19 minutes.

A paramedic is believed to have arrived at Mr Nelson's home within 15 minutes of his parents making a 999 call.

But it took much longer for an ambulance to eventually turn up and Mr Nelson later died in the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital.

Mr Lamb, who is minister of state for care and support, has long campaigned to improve unacceptable ambulance response times in rural Norfolk.

"Norfolk has had a bad deal for several years," he said.

A recent investigation into the performance of the East of England Ambulance Service had highlighted several areas where improvements were needed.

"We have a particular problem with ambulances often stacking up outside the [Norfolk and Norwich hospital] waiting to hand over patients.

"This is frustrating for paramedics and it means that they cannot get to their next call."

Ambulance service failings may have contributed to almost 60 deaths in the region in the last three-and-a-half years, according to figures published by the Eastern Daily Press on Monday (6 January).

Mr Nelson's death was one of 25 serious incidents across the East of England Ambulance Service area between April and December last year.

Figures revealed by the NHS trust show that there were 27 seriouss across the six counties in 2010/11, of which 15 related to the deaths of patients.

The number of serious incidents jumped to 51 during the 2011/12 financial year, with 17 relating to the deaths of patients.

In 2012/13, there were 52 serious incidents, of which 18 related to patient deaths.

The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust said it had made progress identifying the depth of the challenges and issues facing the service.

This included putting in place a plan to deliver changes and improve services to patients.

A new chief executive started work at the trust from 1 January 2014.

Anthony Marsh, who was chief executive of West Midlands Ambulance Service Foundation Trust (WMAS), is being brought in to accelerate improvement in service delivery and performance and build on the foundations for long term sustainability.

Trust chairman Geoffrey Harris described the move as an important step forward for the trust as it focused on transforming the ambulance service.

"Transforming our ambulance service is going to take time, but we have made a start," said Dr Harris.

"We are making changes and seeing early signs of improvement. Anthony will undoubtedly help us build on and accelerate this work."