Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 1:52 pm on 14 March 2018.
Well, the system was one that we introduced about two years ago, and, when you look at where we were at the start of the new response model to where we are now, there's been a real and significant improvement over that time. Comparing this winter to last winter, there has been a fall in performance of a couple of percentage points, but we're still meeting our targets.
The challenge, though, is: how do we understand, from a system point of view, the pressures that we have had this winter, how much of that is genuinely exceptional? And, on some days, as you'll be aware, we've had pressures that I genuinely do not think that any service could have planned for. But there is a broader point about the increasing demand we expect to see delivered in our system, and it's our ability to cope with that, and it's not just about the ambulances; it is a whole-system response. So, it is about continuing to improve on delayed transfers and make sure that people move through the hospital system. It is about continuing to improve on the work that is already being done to try and make sure people don't unnecessarily go into hospital as well.
I recognise, too, that there is a long tail on amber calls, which is not something that the Government is looking at and saying, 'That isn't a problem'. There's work already being done by the emergency ambulance services committee, together with the Welsh ambulance services and health boards, to look at that and to look at what further we'll need to do. And there'll be choices for the health service to make, and potentially choices for the Government, to help the whole service to improve.