SAM Rowlands, Member of the Welsh Parliament for North Wales, has called for the Welsh Government to take bold action to reduce ambulance waits.

Speaking in the Senedd, Mr Rowlands, Shadow Health Minister, said: “Ambulance response times aren't where they should be, and it's also fair to acknowledge that the most recent numbers show that 50.4% of red calls received that response, within eight minutes in October, which is an improvement on the numbers from September.

"Of course, it is still well below the 65% response time target for red calls to arrive within eight minutes, and, indeed, this target has not been met since the summer of 2020.

“But we all too often hear those horror stories of seemingly endless waits for ambulances and then endless waits when those ambulances actually get to hospital.

“We heard of a reporter who waited eight hours with her father, who had a stroke, parked at Grange University Hospital in Cwmbrân, with upwards of 15 ambulances, or the injured rugby player in Carmarthenshire recently who waited for an ambulance for six hours, when the hospital was only a few miles away.

MS Sam RowlandsMS Sam Rowlands (Image: Welsh Government) “I do think it's really important that we have clear targets in place to ensure there's proper accountability and transparency, because, indeed, any potential changes to targets can be concerning in themselves, because meeting targets shouldn't be seen as a pinnacle, but a base from which to build.

"And any change in target system could be seen as Welsh Government trying to get out of achieving the high standards that the people we represent expect to be met.

“I would suggest most of the challenges remain outside of the ambulance service's control, and especially handovers at emergency departments, ambulances just sitting and unable to move patients on to the next phase of care.

“There needs to be that clear, long-term plan, including investment in technology, workforce planning, collaboration across health boards and service providers, and an enhanced public communication, as well as monitoring of performances, so that we all can see the ambulance service that we want to see.”

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Jeremy Miles, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care said that far too many ambulance resources were, both in terms of time and vehicle resources and human resources, staff resources, are tied up in delayed handovers, and they absolutely recognise that that needs to be a focus.

Mr Rowlands added: “We need bold action from the Labour Welsh Government to reduce ambulance waits instead of fiddling with targets.

“Barely half of the most serious ambulance calls receive a response within the target time. We need clear and transparent targets to improve accountability.

“The Welsh Conservatives want to see a long-term plan, involving social care, to address capacity issues within the Welsh NHS to improve the flow of patients into and out of hospitals that applies pragmatic, cross-sector thinking and makes use of cross-border availability.”