London Ambulance Service is seeing unprecedented demand on our 999 and 111 phone services. Please get support online so 111 phone lines are freer for those who cannot get online.

-Urgent help: http://111.nhs.uk

-#COVID19 concerns: http://nhs.uk/coronavirus

With the outbreak of Coronavirus, we are currently seeing unprecedented demand for both our 999 and 111 services.

Last week in particular, saw nearly 8,000 calls come into our 999 centres for four days in a row, the highest volume of calls per day we have ever seen.

With Government officials recently announcing that London is ‘ahead of other parts of the country in terms of the virus’ spread’, it has become of extreme importance that we are able to have a reassuring voice for both our staff and members of the public living in London. This has become even more important following the Prime Minister's appeal to the public to 'stay at home, protect the NHS, and save lives'.

A significant proportion of calls we are seeing come into our 999 and 111 control centres are from people that could have used nhs.uk/coronavirus. Londoners who are more vulnerable and may not have access to the internet are struggling to get through to our life-saving assistance as a result.

We would be really appreciative if you could share our call to action; asking people to visit nhs.uk/coronavirus rather than calling 111 and to only call 999 in a genuine life-threatening emergency.

We have recently launched our national recruitment drive, calling on former London Ambulance Service staff to get in touch if they're able to help us in these times of extreme demand.