THE Welsh Labour Government has been criticised for "failing to improve the performance of the Welsh Ambulance Service".

Welsh Conservatives leader and regional AM for the Vale Andrew RT Davies launched his criticism saying that figures for the Vale of Glamorgan were "worryingly poor", pointing out that the response time target for the most urgent ambulance calls in Wales has been missed for the 21st consecutive month.

Across Wales, 65 per cent of immediately life-threatening calls should receive an ambulance response with eight minutes.

But in July, only 61.7 per cent of calls received a response in the target time.

Cardiff and the Vale Health Board's performance was lower than the national average with only 59.6 per cent of calls responded to in the target time. The specific figure for the Vale of Glamorgan was 56.5 per cent - nearly 10 per cent lower than Welsh Labour’s target.

A spokeswoman for the Welsh Government said that the standard emergency response time for July 2015 was "the quickest it has been since November 2013".

She said: "The recent National Survey results revealed 97 per cent of people who had contact with the ambulance service have confidence in the skills of paramedics, which serves as great testament to the dedication and hard work of staff who are often unfairly criticised.

“We expect the commissioners, health boards, and other partners to work closely with the ambulance service to improve performance and maintain excellent patient outcomes.”

South Wales Central AM, Andrew RT Davies, said: “The fact these targets have been missed for more than 20 months in a row is a national scandal.

“In an immediately life-threatening situation, the length of time waiting for an ambulance can make the difference between life and death. Despite the hard work of our health service staff, the Welsh Ambulance Service continues to underperform due to wider pressures in the unscheduled care system, made worse by Welsh Labour's record breaking NHS budget cuts.

“Labour's cuts have seen beds and minor injuries units axed and hospitals closed and downgraded. Due to its rural nature, the Vale has a number of challenges but the service is nowhere near close to hitting the target - some near 10 per cent away which is unacceptable.

“Instead of scrapping targets Labour Ministers should be investing in our health service to turn poor performance around."