Ambulance response times have plunged to the worst on record with just two in five of the most urgent, life-threatening calls to 999 being responded to within the eight-minute target.
Figures from Stats Wales show that just 39.5% of red calls (calls deemed as immediately life-threatening, such as a cardiac arrest) were responded to within eight minutes in December. This was a significant drop of 8.5% from the previous month. Meanwhile the Welsh Ambulance Service received 5,865 red calls in December - one of the highest number ever made in a single month. Only April 2022 was higher with 10,674 red call outs.
The latest figures show that December 2022 was the lowest on record for ambulances attending the most life-threatening red calls even when compared to December 2020 which was at the height of the pandemic. A quarter of all red calls in December 2022 waited more than 16 minutes for an emergency response.
Figures were released on a day in which 1,000 ambulances workers were striking across Wales in a dispute over pay and conditions. The news also comes as hospital waiting times spiral with 12,000 people across Wales waiting over 12 hours in A&E during December.
Meanwhile, 18,888 patients waited over eight hours for emergency care which is double the Welsh Government’s target of four hours. And in the same time period, only just over half of cancer patients started their treatment within the target time of 62 days.
The ambulance data shows the target of 65% of red-calls reaching their patient within eight minutes has not been reached now since July 2020. Furthermore, over three-quarters (78%) of amber call patients – which include strokes – took over an hour to reach, with only 13% arriving within 30 minutes.
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Welsh Conservative and shadow health minister Russell George MS called the statistics a "dire set of figures". He added: "“I know this is a difficult situation across many nations, but we must remember, that on Labour’s watch, Wales has been left in a worse position – we’ve just recorded the worst A&E and ambulance response times on record and we have Britain’s longest waiting list."
Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds said: "Increased excess deaths, thousands on waiting lists and hours until an ambulance arrives, this is a horror show that the Welsh Labour government has failed to get a hold of."
The Welsh Government said it acknowledged "emergency care performance is not where we expect it to be" but said it had implemented a number of new measures including extending same-day emergency care services to open seven days a week, improving management of 999 patients on the phone, and recruiting more staff.
"Without all this the pressure on the system would be even greater," it added.
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