This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-31008978

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Fewer than half of ambulance response times hitting target Ambulance response times in Wales are 'worst on record'
(35 minutes later)
The proportion of ambulances in Wales hitting the response time target of eight minutes for the most urgent calls fell well below half in December. Ambulance response times for the most urgent calls in Wales are the worst on record, new figures show.
The proportion of ambulances hitting the target response time of eight minutes for the most urgent calls fell well below half in December.
The target for responding to Category A calls is 65% - but in December it was just 42.6%.The target for responding to Category A calls is 65% - but in December it was just 42.6%.
It was down from 51.0% in November 2014 and from 57.6% for the same period a year earlier (Dec 2013). It was down from 51.0% in November 2014 and from 57.6% from December 2013.
The College of Paramedics said many staff were quitting and warned problems were likely to continue. Tracy Myhill, interim chief executive at the Welsh Ambulance Service, said the figures were "unacceptable".
The Welsh Ambulance Service has said it was working to address underlying issues. She said: "We completely appreciate that this presents an unacceptable level of service delivery across the whole health and social care system."
"There are a number of mitigating factors that we need to consider.
"Firstly, we took more than 40,000 calls in December, which is a record high for us and well above what we projected for that month.
"Secondly, when you break down our 'Red' calls into Red 1s (immediately life-threatening, e.g. cardiac arrest) and Red 2s (serious but less immediately time critical, e.g. suspected stroke), we performed much better on the higher acuity Red 1 calls (57.9%) than the Red 2 calls (40.6%).
"While this is still not where we'd like performance to be, it demonstrates that we are still reaching the majority of our most critically ill patients within eight minutes."
Response times breakdownResponse times breakdown
Leader of the Welsh Conservatives Andrew RT Davies has called for "urgent action" to address the "alarming decline" in ambulance response times.
"These are the worst response times on record and it is vital that the health minister works with all interested parties to address the very serious issues facing the ambulance service in Wales."
A Welsh government spokesperson said the figures demonstrated the immense pressure the Welsh Ambulance Service was under throughout December.
"The demand on the service was unprecedented, with the service receiving 40,147 calls during the month, or around 1,295 a day," the spokesperson said.
"They are nevertheless disappointing and there is no complacency about the need to improve performance."
It comes as police forces across Wales said they took patients to hospital more than 100 times last month.