Ambulance responses below target

Ambulance emergency response times in Powys are the lowest in Wales and are way below their target, new Government figures have revealed.

Statistics released by the Welsh Assembly Government for August 2008 show only 42.1 per cent of the most important emergency calls received a response within eight minutes in Powys, compared to the Welsh average of 59.4 per cent.

In June, Edwina Hart, health minister, demanded improvements and gave the Welsh Ambulance Trust six months to turn around.

It followed a review which found evidence of a “bullying culture” and poor morale amongst staff.

Ms Hart noted overall performance improvements, but said response times were “far from acceptable” in many areas, including Powys.

Assembly figures reveal that in August, the number of Category A emergencies reached within target was down 3.6 percentage points on July and short of the 65 per cent target.

Nationally, 59.4 per cent of first responses to emergency calls arrived within eight minutes, 64.3 per cent within nine minutes and 68.8 per cent within 10 minutes.

The proportion of ambulances arriving within eight minutes ranged from 42.1 per cent in Powys to 78.8 per cent in Merthyr Tydfil.

John Howard, Montgomeryshire Community Health Council (CHC) chief officer, said the problem was down to a lack of ambulance cover across the county.

He said: “If you are running with one or two ambulances short on a shift and a major incident happens then something is going to go devastatingly wrong.”

The ambulance trust was unavailable for comment today.