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.”

Plaid yn galw am dargedau amser ambiwlans i gleifion strôc yn dilyn Adolygiad Galwadau Oren y GIG

Wrth ymateb i adolygiad o Alwadau i wasanaeth ambiwlans Cymru wedi’u categoreiddio’n oren, meddai Helen Mary Jones AC ac ysgrifennydd cabinet cysgodol Plaid Cymru dros iechyd a gwasanaethau cymdeithasol,

“Mae’r adolygiad hwn yn amlygu ers i Lywodraeth Cymru newid y ffordd mae’r gwasanaeth yn delio gyda galwadau mae cynnydd wedi bod mewn digwyddiadau difrifol a adroddwyd ac mae faint o amser mae ambiwlansys yn treulio yn aros tu allan i ysbytai hefyd wedi cynyddu. Mae’n dangos hefyd sut, ar adegau, fod diffyg adnoddau yn golygu amseroedd aros hirach i gleifion. 

“Rydym yn siomedig, fodd bynnag, fod yr adolygiad ond wedi ystyried y categori ‘oren’ fel cyfanrwydd. Hynny yw, byddwn wedi disgwyl i’r canolbwynt fod ar yr amodau mai nifer o glinigwyr wedi ei nodi sydd angen ymyrraeth amserol arnynt – megis strôc, lle mae’n hanfodol ein bod ni’n gwybod beth yw effaith gael gwared a’r targedau. Categoreiddio’r amodau difrifol hyn fel ‘oren’ oedd beth oedd yn peri pryder, nid creu’r categori ‘oren’ ar gyfer amodau llai difrifol yn ei hunan.

“Nid yw’n iawn nad oes gan y gwasanaeth ambiwlans darged amser ar gyfer cleifion sy’n cael strôc a dyna pam mae Plaid Cymru yn cefnogi galwad y Gymdeithas Strôc i greu targed sy’n mesur yr amser o alwad brys i’r driniaeth yn cael ei darparu.”