Despite patients reporting long waits for ambulances in recent weeks - including a 78-year-old woman who had to wait almost 14 hours and a dad who feared he would die after waiting 10 hours - latest figures reveal South East Coast Ambulance NHS Trust (Secamb) has actually been improving its service.

The NHS published "quality indicator data" last week showing the performances of the country's 11 ambulance services during May.

The statistics record the average response time by each ambulance service to various categories of call outs.

To category 1 calls – the most urgent requiring immediate medical attention – SECAmb's average response time was 8mins 29secs, improved from the 9mins 34secs it recorded in March.

That ranked the trust fourth out of the 11 ambulance services nationally. The best performing was London Ambulance at 7mins and the worst performing was South Western at 10mins 44secs.

A sub-group is category 1T, which is how long it takes to get a vehicle to transport a patient if one is necessary. Secamb came sixth at 10mins 15secs, with the North East Ambulance Service best at 8mins 21secs and East Midlands worst at 16mins 30secs.

Category 2 cases are serious cases which may require rapid assessment and urgent transport.

Here, Secamb achieved a 28mins 41secs average, down from 39mins wait in March.

That placed the service third in the rankings, with the Isle of Wight best at 22mins 19secs and South Western worst at 56mins 15secs.

Category 3 cases are an urgent problem, such as an uncomplicated diabetic issue, which require treatment and transport to an acute healthcare facility such as a hospital.

Secamb averaged a response time of 2hrs 4mins and 1sec, placing it fifth in the rankings.

Again the Isle of Wight was best at 1hr and 46secs, with West Midlands was worst at 2hr 38mins 7secs.

Category 4 calls are non-urgent problems, such as stable clinical cases, but which require transportation to a hospital ward or clinic.

Secamb averaged 2hrs 53min and 4secs, placing it eighth in the rankings. Again the Isle of Wight was best at 1hr 19mins and 59secs, while the North West was worst at 3hrs 25mins 31secs.

In total Secamb made 57,969 trips during May – an average of 1,869 a day.

Its call operators dealt with a total of 1,027,009 calls that month, the sixth highest total of the 11 ambulance services.

A Secamb spokesman said: "All ambulance services continue to face pressure and are not achieving the performance expected.

"It is clear that there remains a lot to do to improve our response times.

"It is however worth noting that, for May, Secamb was ahead of the national average in the highest three categories of call, with one of the shortest response times for Category 2 calls where approximately 60% of all 999 calls fall.

"As we continue to face periods of high demand, we would like to thank our staff and volunteers for their hard work and commitment.

"We are doing everything we can to reach those who need assistance as quickly as possible, while prioritising our response to our most seriously ill and injured patients.

"We continue to work closely with hospitals across our region to minimise handover delays to ensure we are as best placed as possible to attend patients in the community requiring an ambulance response.

"The public can help us manage demand by only calling 999 in an emergency.

"We also urge everyone to make use of alternatives to 999 for help and advice including speaking to their GP, a pharmacist, by visiting 111.nhs.uk or calling 111.”