Second ambulance review ordered

There were fears lives were being lost due to trust problems

Health Minister Edwina Hart has announced a second major review of the Welsh Ambulance Service.

Ms Hart told AMs that, despite progress, there was still "considerable variation" in ambulance response times.

She said the review would consider the "extent" of improvements and the strength of plans for the future.

Ms Hart also announced that £337,000 would be used to pay for air ambulance paramedic teams' salaries, whose service will also be reviewed.

A review of the ambulance service by Auditor General Jeremy Colman last year found a lack of direction and leadership had led to poor performance.

Ms Hart told AMs the trust had been given more than £22m for new vehicles and £55m had been committed over the next 10 years to a digital communications network.

She said: "The public of Wales has a right to expect a high quality and responsive ambulance service.

It is important to consider the extent to which improvements have been made... and to reassure the public that robust plans are in place to improve the service further still Health Minister Edwina Hart

"It is important to consider the extent to which improvements have been made in the last year, and to reassure the public that robust plans are in place to improve the service further still."

Ms Hart said the review, led by trust chairman Stuart Fletcher, would also consider the cleanliness of vehicles.

A trust spokesperson said there had been improvements over the past year but more needed to be done.

He added that the modernisation plan was over five years and welcomed the review as a "useful" means of measuring progress .

The latest official statistics, for September, show that the service is exceeding the target of achieving 60% of emergency responses within eight minutes.

Helicopter deployment

But it is failing to meet all its other key targets, including ambulances for life-threatening category A calls.

The trust is still failing to get 95% of ambulances, rather than lone paramedic first responders, to the most serious and immediately life-threatening calls.

Following the publication of Mr Colman's investigation at the end of last year, the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales said it was concerned lives were being lost and warned the trust faced "significant challenges".

Current trust chief executive Alan Murray was appointed in August 2006 following a crisis which saw several of his predecessors quit.

Ms Hart said she was making £337,000 available in this financial year so the air ambulance service could cover the full salary costs of its paramedic team.

She said: "In return, I expect a full review of the way in which air ambulance services are provided in Wales, including an examination of current protocols, location, usage and deployment of existing helicopters.

"This review is to be carried out rapidly, and concluded by the end of this calendar year.

"It will inform any decisions which have to be made about funding requirements for the service in future years."

'One-off'

Mark James, a trustee of the Air Ambulance services said there was both good and bad news from the announcement.

Mr James said that the money would not be given to the charity, but to the ambulance trust to pay the paramedics' wages.

He said the payment was a "one-off" and it was "such a large sum" because there had been a funding shortfall for some time.

Mr James also said the service would have liked to have been consulted and given more warning of things including the review, which would have to be written in the next three weeks.

He said: "It raises almost as many questions as it answers, this statement, particularly over long-term funding of the paramedics."