Welsh Ambulance response times have been branded “alarming” by a local politician.

Plaid Cymru politicians have expressed their concerns as waiting times for ambulances in Powys continue to fall short of Welsh Government targets.

In the latest data released by the Welsh Government it showed that in April this year, only 42.6 percent of immediately life-threatening calls within the Powys Teaching Health Board area were attended within eight minutes – well below the target 65 per cent.

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Cefin Campbell, Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd for Mid & West Wales said the figures show long term issues in the Welsh NHS.  

“These latest ambulance response times continue to be alarming. Now we’re into spring, it’s clear that we’re no longer talking about seasonal pressures – but rather a deep-rooted inability to get to grips with the pressures in our NHS,” said Mr Campbell.

“The figures sadly reflect a growing trend I’m regularly seeing in my inbox and on the doorstep, with constituents across Powys citing lengthy delays for an ambulance – often with devastating consequences. Whilst I am aware of the unprecedented pressures the pandemic has placed on our hardworking NHS staff and services, clearly urgent action needs to be undertaken to overcome these problems.”

County Times:

Figures for Powys fell well below the national average – with just over half (53 per cent) of ‘red’ calls across Wales responded to within eight minutes and in the neighbouring Hywel Dda University Health Board, 46.8 per cent of such emergency life threatening calls were attended to within the target eight minutes.

Plaid Cymru have said they are also concerned about the long waiting list for treatment in the country. The latest NHS figures also showed that 31,700 patients' pathways were waiting more than two years for treatment - falling around 5,000 from the previous month.

However, the Welsh Government had previously set a target that no-one would be waiting for more than two years for treatment form the end of March this year.