Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:12 pm on 14 March 2023.
Well, Llywydd, the fundamental answer is not to have ambulances waiting in that way, and while the position in the health service continues to be very challenging, there is some good news in this area. By taking the whole-system approach to which I referred in my original answer, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, working with the ambulance service, achieved a 50 per cent reduction in the number of ambulance hours lost to handover at the University Hospital of Wales between January of this year and January of last year. And the lessons that are there to learn from that successful experiment are now being spread to other parts of Wales. So, Delyth Jewell will be, I know, interested in what happens in south-east Wales and, since the start of this month, a new safe-flow model has been in place at the Grange University Hospital, drawing very much on the work that has proved successful at UHW.
The way to improve air quality is not to have ambulances waiting to the extent that they have been. Where they do have to wait, they should be electric vehicles, not petrol vehicles, and that's why the Minister announced that we will be improving the infrastructure at the hospital front door, so that it is easier for ambulances to operate in that way. There is already very significant investment by the Welsh Government in improving the Welsh ambulance service fleet in that way. The money for the charging points will come from the Minister's own budget, and she has identified that, and I'm sure that there will be further information that she will be able to share with Members as that plan develops.