PLAID CALL FOR AMBULANCE TIME TARGET FOR STROKE PATIENTS, FOLLOWING NHS AMBER REVIEW

POLITICAL UPDATE

Plaid call for ambulance time target for stroke patients, following NHS Amber Review

Responding to the Findings of the Independent Accelerated Programme for Amber Review, Helen Mary Jones AM and Plaid Cymru shadow cabinet secretary for health and social services said:

“This review has highlighted that since the Welsh Government changed the way the service deals with calls there has been an increase in serious adverse incidents reported and the amount of time Ambulances are spending waiting outside hospitals has increased. It also highlights how, on occasions, the lack of resources has meant longer waiting times for patients.

“We are disappointed, however, that the review has only considered the ‘amber’ category as a whole. We would have expected the focus to be on the conditions that many clinicians noted that require a timely intervention – such as strokes, where it is vital we know what effect removing the time targets will have had. The categorisation of these serious conditions as ‘amber’ is what has sparked the concern, not the creation of ‘amber’ for less serious conditions as a whole.

“It can’t be right that the ambulance service does not have a time target for patients having a stroke, and that’s why Plaid Cymru has supported the Stroke association’s call for a target that measures the time from emergency call to the treatment being delivered.”