Ambulance "raw deal" (From Barry And District News)

Ambulance "raw deal"

PEOPLE in the county are getting a raw deal when it comes to ambulance services, says the Vale of Glamorgan Community Health Council.

The council is "dismayed" by what it believes to be an unfair variation in emergency ambulance services across Wales.

National Assembly for Wales figures reveal that in Conway, from July 1 to September 30, 2005, nearly three quarters of emergency response vehicles arrived at the scene of a life-threatening or'Category A' incident within the target time of eight minutes.

However, in the Vale, less than half of the vehicles called to similar incidents achieved this in the same period.

Furthermore, while almost 100 percent of ambulances transported a Category A patient to hospital within the 14/18/21 minute target in Wrexham, just a little over three quarters did this in the Vale.

Chair of the council Jenny Hughes said: "Our understanding is that the eight minute target for an emergency response to arrive at a life-threatened patient has clinical significance to the clinical prognosis of such a patient.

"Whilst we appreciate that there will be some failures to achieve this target, we find it difficult to accept the levels of service vary so greatly and persistently throughout Wales.

"Some populations in Wales are well served, unlike the Vale of Glamorgan, and this variation is to do with the distribution of resources - not the overall level of resource."

Ms Hughes said she believed that this "dramatic lack of equity" would affect clinical outcomes, so therefore the people of the Vale are at a serious disadvantage.

The council has been in contact with the Health Commission Wales (HCW), but says it is still waiting for reassurance that there are plans to equalise services across the country.

A spokesperson for the National Assembly told the Barry and District News: "Health Commission Wales has agreed plans with the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust (WAST) to improve ambulance response times in areas where current performance is below the Welsh average, and has also written to each local health board to outline the plans for each area."