PATIENTS IN SOUTH WALES EAST COULD CONCLUDE,
IF THEY JUDGE THEIR NHS SERVICES AGAINST ASSEMBLY TARGETS,
THEY HAVE DRAWN THE SHORT STRAW
A media release from William Graham AM on Thursday 7th February
William Graham (Conservative AM for South Wales East) responding to the “Likelihood of Delivery Assessment” report on the NHS in Gwent which indicated the potential failure to meet a 26-week waiting times Assembly Government target by the end of December 2009, especially for patients requiring orthopaedics and ENT treatment.
“I raised these issues in Plenary this week, particularly the Assembly expecting LHB’s to find an additional £8million to meet costs arising from the Grogan judgement, which will directly impact upon bed-blocking and the ability of the NHS in Gwent meeting Assembly Government targets”.
“I highlighted how patients in South Wales East could conclude, if they judge their NHS services against Assembly Government set targets, they have drawn the short straw”.
“The Assembly Government set a target that 75% of immediately life-threatening emergency (Category A) calls would be responded to within 8 minutes. Their continuing failure to meet emergency call response times resulted in this figure being to reduced to 70%, then 65% and finally to 60%”.
“Alarmingly, an average response time of 8 minutes for 60% category A calls throughout South Wales East has never been reached”.
“The latest figures for Ambulance response times (November 2007) highlight Monmouthshire, which consistently has the lowest percentage of calls meeting the Assembly Government target for the whole of Wales, saw a further fall in response times from 45.5% (in September) to just 40.9%. It has been as low as 37%”.
“The failure to meet these targets is not a reflection upon the professionalism and dedication of our NHS Staff – it is an outcome arising from the interference of a Government which has set target after target without giving due regard to the demands their targets place clinical treatment and resources”.
“It is a failure by the Assembly Government to acknowledge they have falsely raised patient hopes and expectations of the treatment ‘promised’ to them”.
William Graham JP, AM
CHIEF WHIP, PARTY CHAIRMAN AND EUROPEAN SPOKESMAN
Email – William.Graham@Wales.gov.uk