The Welsh Labour Government must take action to improve the performance of the Welsh Ambulance Service which has the worst waiting times in the UK, the Leader of the Opposition claimed today.
Andrew RT Davies cited the tragic case of Mr Pring from Flintshire who died after waiting 42 minutes for an ambulance. His inquest heard that had aid arrived sooner, he probably would have arrived at hospital sooner where treatment would have ‘optimised the prospects of his survival’.
Mr Davies also referred to the urgent review in Abertawe Bro Morgannwg Health Board following the death of a patient who had waited four hours outside the Princess of Wales Hospital’s A&E department last Thursday.
Andrew RT Davies said, “These two cases are devastating tragedies for the victims’ families, for whom this is such a difficult and challenging time.
“These two deaths raise serious questions about logjams in A&E departments preventing ambulances from transferring patients and the Welsh Ambulance Service’s lack of resources, which together drag down response times.
“There is evidence suggesting that both these deaths could possibly have been avoided, if the ambulance service was better resourced to respond to call-outs and if A&E departments had not been stretched to breaking point.
“Labour’s legacy of record-breaking NHS cuts has starved the ambulance service of vital funds, making it more difficult to reach the target of 65% of ambulances responding to a life-threatening call within eight minutes – a target which has only been met once in the past 18 months.
“Under Labour, Wales has the longest ambulance waits outside A&E in the whole of the UK. Wales also has the lowest ambulance response time target in the UK and even that is being routinely missed.
“Despite the dedication and hard work of paramedics and other medical staff, the ambulance service is not delivering to the standards patients expect in their time of greatest need.
“The Welsh Labour Government must now learn the lessons of these two tragedies and act to ensure that the ambulance service is properly funded and that capacity issues in A&E which prevent the swift transition of patients from ambulances are urgently addressed.”
