Welsh ambulance service response 'shows improvement'

The Welsh Ambulance Service has recorded one of its best results since the collection of monthly data was introduced, figures show.

In April, 70.5% of emergency responses across Wales resulted in an ambulance arriving within eight minutes.

It was the third successive month crews were above a 65% target for arriving at the scene within the limit.

Paramedics dealt with just over 26,500 emergency calls in April, up 3.2% compared with April 2009.

The April performance figures for the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust (WAST) show that for the first time crews hit a 60% target response to emergency calls in all local authority areas.

The 60% target was also achieved in all seven of the local health boards areas, compared to six in March 2010.

A Welsh Assembly Government spokesperson said: "Ambulance response times are continuing to show improvement.

The spokesperson added: "But we would hope that the Welsh Ambulance Service will continue to increase performance levels over the coming months and ensure that response times are consistently reaching the target across Wales."