William Graham has been fiercely critical of the Welsh Assembly Government’s handling of the Welsh Ambulance Service. Having arrogantly rejected the need for an inquiry, only for the Health Minister to mistakenly vote for it, Labour have done little to address this alarming state of affairs. Responding to the publication of the latest statistics on ambulance response times, William said:
“Monmouthshire is once again the county with the lowest percentage of ambulances responding to emergency calls within the Labour Assembly Government target. Just 37.8% of Category A calls (immediately life-threatening) were attended by a first responder or an ambulance within the 8 minute target. The average response time throughout Wales fell short of the Labour Assembly Government target for 60% of Category A calls to be attended within 8 minutes.”
This is not a reflection upon the professionalism of our ambulance crews and paramedics. The Auditor General’s report into the ambulance service indicates the importance of fundamental reform, investment and changes to working practices. These are clearly vital if we are to reach the category A target response times within Monmouthshire that match those for other rural areas within Wales. Acting in his capacity as Chief Whip, William ensured that the Conservatives in the Assembly have voted to alter the proposed budget so that more money is available to the Welsh Ambulance Service so that it should be able to address the very valid criticisms recently made by the Welsh Auditor General.