Ambulance unit in £690k overspend

The Great Western Ambulance Service (GWAS) has overspent by £690,000.

Emma Green, GWAS spokesperson, said the overspend was "controlled and allocated" to meet extra hours and the tighter targets set by the government.

Money spent covered payments to buy in agency support and to offer overtime to staff, to meet national time targets of responding to an emergency.

The national target of answering Category A calls (life threatening) is eight minutes.

Ms Green said GWAS had one month to demonstrate they could meet the targets to the Strategic Health Authority and the Commissioning Primary Care Trust, who would then cover future financial shortfalls.

She said staffing issues were also being addressed through extra training.