SOUTH WALES EAST
AMBULANCE RESPONSE TIMES
THE WORST IN WALES
a media release by William Graham AM on 16th January
William Graham (Conservative AM for South Wales East) responding to the latest Ambulance Service statistics for November 2007:
“The Assembly Government has set a target of 60% of life-threatening emergency calls to be responded to within 8 minutes. The overwhelming majority of these calls throughout South Wales East fail to meet this target time”.
“In November, Monmouthshire which consistently has the lowest percentage of calls meeting this Assembly Government target in the whole of Wales saw a further fall in response times from 45.5% (September) to just 40.9%”.
“Response times fell in:
September November
Newport 52.6% 51.5%
Torfaen 55.9% 53.3%
Caerphilly 58.7% 55.9%
Merthyr 77.7% 75.2%
Merthyr has the best response rate in Wales during September; fell to 4th best in November”.
“I will continue to raise this issue with the Health Minister. It is acknowledged that a swift response time leading to the earliest possible commencement of treatment, is vital in many emergencies”.
“People living in South Wales East deserve an ambulance service which meets their requirements, not a service which is clearly the worst in Wales”.
“These figures are not a reflection upon our ambulance crews and paramedics, the responsibility lies with an Assembly Government that fails to ensure efficient investment in NHS services”.
William Graham JP, AM
CHIEF WHIP, PARTY CHAIRMAN AND EUROPEAN SPOKESMAN
Email – William.Graham@Wales.gov.uk