5. What progress is being made to improve ambulance response times in South Wales West? OAQ53355

There is considerable work under way to ensure patients who have a clinical need for an ambulance response in South Wales West do so as quickly as possible. I was encouraged to note that the latest figures show the area was again among the best performers in Wales for patients in the red category.

Thank you for that response, Minister, and I appreciate the efforts being made to improve the response times. I want to raise an issue in relation to that and how we can perhaps help it, because in my personal circumstances, I had a need for a family member to phone an ambulance over the weekend, and the individual actually went into atrial fibrillation at home. We phoned up and we were told the ambulance was on its way. I asked for clarity—'Can you give me an idea of what time?'—because I could actually get to Morriston perhaps faster than half an hour. We were not given information. We waited 20 minutes and I took the decision to go to Morriston, and I got there before the ambulance would have arrived. I actually cancelled the ambulance on the way.

But I've also had constituents telling me how many times they have been waiting for ambulances. If ambulance staff and ambulance crews, or the people on the 999 service, can actually give us an indication—they refuse, because they said, 'We can't predict it'. But if we can have an indication where they're coming from, I can take action to get somebody to a hospital faster, and treatment faster. In the case of AF, you need to get there fast.

Now, I didn't know what category it was in. I wasn't told whether it was red or amber. I was simply told, 'We can't give you any information, but your call has been logged and it's been passed on'. That's not good enough. I need to know when it's going to be coming, and if it's going to be delayed, I'll take the action and get the patient there. Can you look into this to ensure that people have the best information to take the decisions that they need to take to get the patients to the best place?

This was part of the amber review and the conversation about whether you should give an indication of whether an ambulance is due, and the advice in that was not to do so. There's work that the chief ambulance commissioner is doing to take forward the amber review to try and improve the experience for people whilst they are waiting as well.

I'd be happy, though, to talk to the Member directly about the experience he's had, to try and understand if there are more things that the ambulance service could do, even if it is that conversation about what the individual could do if they could safely transport someone to a centre they are likely to have to attend in any event if the ambulance arrives.

Thank you for your question, David, because I'm thinking once again of the role of co-responders, which I've raised in the Chamber a number of times. They are obviously well equipped to deal with a quick response to precisely this sort of situation that David Rees has mentioned there. They have a huge role to play in the efficiency of emergency response, and the row about how that service is paid for, I think, is a complete distraction.

Bearing in mind the changes in the red and amber categorisations as well, I think I'd just like to raise the issue of first responders, which is obviously different. I'm sure you've been pleased that Bishopston and Pennard first responders group has recently attracted a huge host of new volunteers, but again—and it's not the first time it's happened to them—they are still waiting for the ambulance service to come and do the training. People are losing interest in that period of time. Can you tell us what Welsh Government can do to help the ambulance service take advantage of this social capital in helping them produce a better response rather than wasting it? Thank you.

On the two points—. There are two separate points, and on co-responders it isn't just about money. It is actually about agreement on the role, for example, for firefighters as well, and agreement that is about terms and conditions and, actually, about how we deliver and make better use of trained personnel within our broader emergency services system.

The point about first responders is one that I've actually taken up previously with the ambulance service about their plan for first responders and making use of people who want to be first responders to maintain their skills and make sure that is actually plugged in and designed in as part of our system. I'll happily take that up and write to the Member about where the ambulance service are on that, because I don't want to lose sight of those people who want to contribute and could make a real difference in a range of communities across the country.FootnoteLink

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