Powys Ambulance Times Remain The Slowest In Wales (Kirsty Williams AM )

Cymraeg
English

Kirsty Williams AM <info@kirstywilliams.org.uk>

Powys Ambulance Times Remain The Slowest In Wales

June 4, 2008 1:20 PM

Official Government figures for April 2008 show that Powys' Ambulance response times to immediately life threatening calls are still the lowest in Wales. The percentage of emergency responses arriving at the scene of an incident within 8 minutes in Powys was 47.8% compared to the Wales average of 65.1% and the target of 60%.

Kirsty Williams AM for Brecon & Radnorshire said:

"Whilst the Powys figures show a marginal improvement on the 45.4% of last month, they are still far from meeting the grade. The large and rural Powys may be at a logistical disadvantage to smaller, urban and more manageable areas but this is no excuse for putting people's lives at risk.

"Our hardworking ambulance staff are struggling against a poor road infrastructure, a dispersed and aging population and simply do not have adequate resources to meet these harsh demands.

"We are not only lagging behind the rest of Wales but are also way short of England's corresponding target of 75% for Category A calls.

"I have written to the Minister for Health asking her to take urgent action to tackle these consistently low figures in Powys by working with WAG colleagues to address problems of understaffing, poor infrastructure and a lack of resources."