Welsh Ambulance target time drops over month

The response times for both so-called Red 1 and Red 2 emergency calls had fallen in August

The Welsh Ambulance Service has seen its monthly performance for emergency response times fall for the first time this year.

Latest figures show 58.8% of ambulances on life-threatening category A calls arrived within eight minutes. The target is 65%.

This is down from 61.7% in July 2015.

The trust said it was "disappointed" but 70% of the most critically ill or injured patients had been reached within the time frame.

There were 37,613 emergency calls in August - nearly 2% up on July. Of these, 13,667 were immediately life-threatening calls.

Although still responding better than a year ago, the performance has dropped off after improvements over seven successive months.

The eight-minute response to the most critical calls - categorised as Red 1 - had also seen a fall from 73.2% to 71.1%

Looking at different parts of Wales, ambulances in Conwy, Denbighshire, Newport and Wrexham met the 65% target.

The worst performance was in Ceredigion, where 48.5% of category A calls were reached within eight minutes.

The next set of figures in a month's time will be the last under the current system.

A new year-long pilot for assessing 999 emergencies gets under way on Thursday.

Calls will be graded as red, amber or green and patients will get the appropriate response depending on how much risk they are in.

As a result, the eight minute target for all but the most critical "red" will be scrapped.

Chief executive Tracy Myhill said: "Under the new model, those patients in imminent danger of death will continue to get a life-saving response as quickly as possible.

"All other patients will have a response based on their clinical needs, but it might not always equal a trip to hospital. It could mean a referral to NHS Direct Wales or their GP."