- 28/02/2017
- Posted by: Mike Hedges MS
- Category: Press Releases
Welsh Labour’s Health Secretary Vaughan Gething has given the go-ahead for a new model of emergency ambulance services to be implemented with immediate effect, following a successful pilot.
Mike Hedges Am said… ‘I greatly welcome this news as ambulance response time is one of the main issues which people raise with me. Waiting with a loved one for an ambulance to arrive can be incredibly stressful for all concerned as well as causing delays to accessing appropriate treatment for the patient. This new model is going to lead to an improvement in response times and this will be good for patients and loved ones alike.’
The decision comes off the back of a positive independent evaluation of the model commissioned by the Emergency Ambulance Services Committee (EASC).
The clinical response model, announced in summer 2015, moves away from historic time-based targets for all but the most immediately life-threatening or ‘Red’ calls. It places a greater focus on patient outcomes, prioritising those in most need of an urgent response.
The target is for 65 per cent of the most urgent ‘Red calls’ to be responded to in eight minutes. The 65% target has been achieved each month since the trial started in October 2015; performance has continued to improve and in each of the last 9 months, more than 75% of red calls have received an emergency response within eight minutes.
