Local MS slates Powys Ambulance waiting times

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have called for action to tackle long ambulance waiting times in Powys following the publication of new statistics this week. 

Only 40% of red calls, the most serious category of incidents, were answered within target times, this is compared to 50% across all of Wales.

Meanwhile, 61% of amber calls, which include strokes and heart attacks, took over 60 minutes to respond to. 

Other datasets showed 608,000 people were still on an NHS waiting list across Wales, while more than 8,389 people were waiting over two years to start treatment. 

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have stated that Labour’s management of the NHS in Wales over the last 25 years has been a “disaster” for the public and have stated that the Liberal Democrats top priority in next year’s Senedd elections would be to fix social care to relieve pressure on hospitals and the ambulance service.

Many hospitals in Wales and over the border in Shropshire and Herefordshire are unable to discharge patients because social care packages aren’t available, leading to bed blocking and ambulances left queuing outside of A&E units. 

Commenting, Welsh Liberal Democrat Senedd Member for Mid & West Wales Jane Dodds said: 

“Today’s statistics are the latest in a long line that paint a really disastrous image of Labour’s management of the NHS in Wales over the last 25 years. 

“But behind every single one of these statistics are real people, real families being impacted by the inability to get the help they deserve when they need it. 

“We must see real action to drive down waiting lists and relieve the pressure on our emergency departments and hospitals. That is why the Welsh Liberal Democrats will continue to make fixing social care our number one priority. 

Meanwhile, Montgomeryshire MS Russell George has also responded to the news that waiting lists across Wales have been cut.

He said: “The Welsh Government are claiming success in waiting times, and also make the claim that no Powys patients are waiting more than two years for treatment. This is simply not true.

“Though two-year waits have fallen, they remain at 8,389 in Wales, compared with only 147 in England. The Labour Health Minister, now First Minister, Eluned Morgan, promised to eliminate these waits for the last two years (by March 2023 and again by March 2024), but failed to meet these targets and still has not.”