BOSSES at the region's ambulance service insist it is improving – but Derby councillors said they are not completely convinced.
East Midlands Ambulance Service said they were on course this month for meeting national standards for reaching patients quickly enough.
And bosses from the trust told a meeting of Derby city councillors that only the "passage of time" would allow them to prove they could make a difference to performance.
But councillors on the adults and public health board said they were still concerned because they had been assured by the ambulance service before.
Representatives from the trust were asked to attend the meeting to talk about a recent inspection it had received from the health watchdog, the Care Quality Commission.
The commission said it found EMAS was not meeting four out of six "essential standards" during an inspection in January.
Councillor Robin Turner, who represents Sinfin, said: "I think this is the third time I have heard from the service and, looking at what the commission said, this is a bad position for the service to be in."
But Paul Ferguson, the trust's assistant director of operations for Derbyshire – who was joined by Nicola Bramhall, EMAS acting director of nursing and quality at the meeting – said the trust had already recognised it had a "number of shortcomings".
He said: "I came to the trust in January and some of the staff were saying the exact same thing to me: 'We've heard it all before, we've seen it all before.'
"I take it on the chin as I can't do anything about that. I can only be prepared to pick up these issues, tackle them and help us improve. Indications are that we are starting to improve. But we won't be able to demonstrate we can do that consistently until time has passed."
EMAS is tasked with reaching three-quarters of patients with life-threatening conditions in eight minutes. Emergencies are classed as either "red one" calls, where a defibrillator is required, or "red two" calls, all other life-threatening situations.
It must also get an ambulance to these calls within 19 minutes in 95% of cases.
The meeting heard how, so far this month, it had reached 76.23% of red one and 76.91% of red two calls in eight minutes and got an ambulance to 95.96% of these calls in 19 minutes.
Mr Ferguson said the standard was being met in Derbyshire in April and that the trust "performed well in South Derbyshire" – but that consistency was now needed across the whole region.
Councillor Frank Harwood, who represents Oakwood, said: "Is this a financial matter? Do you have enough ambulances?"
Mr Ferguson said: "We have enough to ensure we can meet the required Department of Health standards.''
