Ambulances miss lowered targets

Ambulances are expected to reach Category A calls in eight minutes

The ambulance service in Wales is still missing response time targets, even though these targets have been reduced, according to latest figures.

Across Wales, 58.6% of the most serious Category A calls were responded to within eight minutes.

This falls below the current target of 60%, which was reduced from 65% earlier this year.

The assembly government said despite rising demand, almost 88% of all emergency calls arrived within targets.

The latest Category A figures, between 1 April to 30 June, are an improvement on the 57.5% average for the period in 2004.

It comes against a backdrop of increasing demand on the service.

Category A calls met in eight minutes Monmouthshire: 41% Vale of Glamorgan: 43.5% Bridgend: 44.8% Powys: 45.9% Conwy: 74.3% Wrexham: 73.1% Swansea: 71.5%

There were nearly 68,000 emergency calls between 1 April and 30 June this year - a 5% increase on last year.

The National Statistics figures for the Welsh assembly show that responses to life-threatening calls vary greatly across Welsh unitary authority levels.

When all emergency calls are considered, and not just the most life threatening, the figures show that 87.7% are responded to within the target times.

Conservative Jonathan Morgan said people were "waiting too long even in life-threatening situations".

"With all the extra money being poured into the health service patients should at least expect that ambulance response times should be first class - they're not even third class," he said.

'Hard work'

Plaid Cymru's Rhodri Glyn Thomas said the inability to meet targets was being "hindered by the New Labour policy to centralise ambulance services".

Mr Thomas said: "Many rural services in Wales now do not have 24-hour cover, and the more populated areas do not have a sufficient number of ambulances to meet the need in their areas.

"We need to invest in the ambulance service, to ensure that services across Wales can meet local need."

Liberal Democrat Jenny Randerson said the service needed to be improved rather than targets dropped.

The Welsh Assembly Government said the statistics showed that demand for emergency services remained high, with nearly 68,000 emergency calls received this quarter.

A spokeswoman said over the past six years demand had "increased significantly" from just 195,000 calls in 1999-2000 to 267,000 in the year ending in March 2005.

"Despite this increase almost 88% of responses to all emergency calls in Wales arrived within the target time," said the spokeswoman.

"This is a credit to the hard work of ambulance staff in Wales".

"We are aware that some areas do still face some problems but the Welsh Ambulance Trust is continuing to work with Health Commission Wales to explore how resources can best be used to further improve the performance of the emergency ambulance service."