Ambulance waiting times unacceptable and dangerous – Welsh Lib Dems

Responding to ambulance response times figures published today, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have stated ambulance waiting times are unacceptable and dangerous and urged all political parties to work together to find a solution.

Only 50.4% of red ambulance calls were reached within the 8 minute target, ranging from 41% of calls in Powys to 55.7% in Swansea Bay. In addition, the number of patients waiting to start a course of treatment rose by 4,400 to 593,000 in July. The number of patients waiting more than 36 weeks to start a course of treatment increased to 231,000 in July.

Commenting, Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS stated:

“It is deeply concerning to see that only half of all life-threatening emergency ambulance calls were reached within the 8 minute target in August, the poorest performance since September last year.

“If we are to reduce pressures on our ambulance services and A&Es, we must invest more in community healthcare and social care. If people could get a GP appointment in reasonable time or be safely discharged from hospital, there would be far less pressure on emergency services.

“Across the board the figures are going in the wrong direction. More people waiting to start treatment, more people waiting longer to start treatment, more people waiting longer to start cancer treatment.

“This situation cannot continue. Labour Ministers must end their hands-off approach to our NHS and support our outstanding NHS staff and use their insight and expertise to put our NHS on a more stable footing.”