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Ambulance response time target missed Ambulance response time target missed
(35 minutes later)
Welsh ambulances have again missed their target of reaching 65% of life-threatening incidents in eight minutes. The Welsh Ambulance Service has again missed its target of reaching 65% of life-threatening incidents in eight minutes.
In August, 56.9% of ambulances were within the guidelines, down from 58.3% in July and 61.8% in August last year.In August, 56.9% of ambulances were within the guidelines, down from 58.3% in July and 61.8% in August last year.
In June, Health Minister Mark Drakeford demanded "urgent improvements" from the service within three months. In June, ministers demanded "urgent improvements" within three months.
The Conservatives said "urgent answers" were needed from Labour ministers on the "dire" performance. On Wednesday, the Welsh government said the figures were "disappointing", Conservatives said "urgent answers" were needed on the "dire" performance.
The Welsh Ambulance Service has missed the target for top priority calls for most of the past two years. The service has missed the target for top priority calls for most of the past two years.
Last week a 73-year-old great grandmother died in an ambulance queuing outside the A&E department at Morriston Hospital, Swansea.Last week a 73-year-old great grandmother died in an ambulance queuing outside the A&E department at Morriston Hospital, Swansea.
The service says it is introducing a variety of changes with the aim of driving up performance including recruiting dozens of new paramedics.
But BBC Wales has learnt that some improvements may not be delivered until Christmas and that it could take up to three years before the service gets all the resources it suggests it needs.But BBC Wales has learnt that some improvements may not be delivered until Christmas and that it could take up to three years before the service gets all the resources it suggests it needs.
Conservative Shadow Health Minister Darren Millar said it was "particularly worrying" that performance had been "so dire" during a largely warm, dry summer.
The figures, he warned, "do not bode well for the winter months ahead".
He added: "Urgent answers are needed from Labour ministers as to how they have left this to go on for so long and what action they intend to take to put it right."
'Improvement'
A Welsh government spokesman said the figures were "disappointing" and are not where "the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust, health boards, the Welsh government or the public would want them to be".
He added; "However, an analysis of these figures shows they are an improvement on the service's performance in five of the past six months and the difference in the median response time in August compared to that in July is a matter of just eight seconds.
"Speaking at the end of June, Health and Social Services Minister Mark Drakeford set out a three-month timetable for the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust to improve its emergency response time performance - we are currently only two-thirds of the way through that programme."
The Welsh Ambulance Service said it was introducing a series of changes to improve performance, including recruiting dozens of new paramedics.
Director of Service Delivery Mike Collins said the "top priority" was reducing delays admitting patients in ambulances to hospital.
He added: "We recognise that on occasion we fall short of the eight-minute target but are working as hard as we possibly can to get to patients as quickly as possible."