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Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal DemocratsRepresenting Aberavon, Bridgend, Gower, Neath, Ogmore, Port Talbot, and Swansea |
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9,200 emergencies wait over twenty minutes for an ambulance
March 16, 2010 12:00 AM
Research by the Welsh Liberal Democrats has shown that in 2009, there were more than 9,200 Category A 'emergency' incidents that the Welsh Ambulance Service took over twenty minutes to respond to.
Category A 'emergency' calls are ones that are classed as immediately life threatening, such as heart attacks. The Welsh Assembly Government target is for these calls to be responded to within eight minutes in at least 65% of cases across Wales, a target that is frequently missed. The target was created based on the time it takes for brain cells to die in the event of cardiac arrest. An FOI from Peter Black to the Welsh Ambulance Trust showed that 9,242 incidents were responded to in 'greater than twenty minutes'.
Last week, the Chief Executive of the Ambulance Service, Alan Murray, resigned and has been replaced by an interim Chief Executive. The Welsh Assembly Government have refused to make a statement on this issue despite requests from the Welsh Liberal Democrats.
Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Minister, Peter Black AM, raised the issue of the waiting times and budget deficit of the Ambulance Service with the First Minister in First Minister's Questions. The First Minister agreed that the situation is unacceptable.
Commenting, Peter Black said,
"I cannot believe that over 9,000 people whose lives were at risk had to wait over twenty minutes for an ambulance to get to them. It is a simply shocking statistic."
"In a life threatening emergency every minute counts. The Government's eight minute target is based upon maximising survival rates and for the target to be missed by such a degree is a sign of just how dire the situation is."
"An independent report on the service has found that it is underfunded to the tune of £5 million per year, and that it loses a further £2 million due to delays in transfers at A&E departments. Without that funding the service will continue to miss targets and lives will continue to be put at risk."
"I am pleased that the First Minister recognises that the situation at present is unacceptable, but he has refused to commit to providing the extra funding that the service requires. It cannot be expected that response times will magically increase without the investment that is needed."
"The new Chief Executive must be given the tools to do the job required of them. Only with the investment and backing of the Government will they be able to turn around this service that fails so frequently."
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