Grandfather's 13-hour wait for stroke unacceptable, says Mark Drakeford

It was "clearly not acceptable" that an 85-year-old man had to wait 13 hours for an ambulance after suffering a stroke, First Minister Mark Drakeford has said.

David Evans, from Mountain Ash, had an overnight wait for an ambulance.

Mr Drakeford told the Senedd he had "no difficulty" in apologising for the incident.

But he rejected calls from the Welsh Conservatives for targets for all ambulance calls.

Mr Evans was at his home when paramedics were called on 25 October.

The first call was made at 18:45 BST but an ambulance did not arrive until 07:45 the next day, with Mr Evans's son Chris describing it as the "longest night of my life".

"I've never felt so helpless," he said.

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During first minister's question time in the Welsh Parliament Mr Drakeford said: "It's clearly not acceptable that someone was left to wait for as long as that individual was."

He said the service is under strain from the "the highest ever level of calls that it has experienced", from staff sickness, from coronavirus conditions such as PPE and cleaning.

"But nobody is satisfied when individuals are left waiting too long for an ambulance to arrive."

Senior Welsh Conservative Paul Davies asked if Mr Drakeford would apologise.

David Evans' son Chris (left) says he has "never felt so helpless" after the 13 hour wait for an ambulance

'No difficulty in apologising'

Mr Drakeford said: "I have no difficulty at all in apologising to anybody who hasn't received the service that we would wish them to receive, and I know that the ambulance trust has already done that on behalf of the service directly."

He added that hospitals are "full" of people who cannot be discharged into social care or their own homes.

"Setting targets simply for the ambulance service doesn't result in the improvements that the member would want to see and I would want to see as well."

Currently targets only exist for calls categorised as "red" - the most serious the ambulance service receives.

In response Mr Davies said: "I am pleased to hear the first minister express remorse for the suffering that has occurred in the NHS and ambulance service under his watch, but while apologies are important, urgent action to prevent similar cases arising in future is the goal people desire."