Latest ambulance response times to calls in Pembrokeshire narrowly missed the all-Wales target of an ambulance reaching in 8 minutes after an emergency call.

In Pembrokeshire in July 2013 64.8% of life-threatening calls were answered within 8 minutes. The all-Wales target is 65 %.

Plaid Cymru Mid and West AM Simon Thomas said: “It is not surprising that the Welsh ambulance service is not meeting its targets. What is concerning is there seems to be little improvement. Many of us wonder why the Welsh Government continues to push through their plans to centralise hospital services that will require ambulances to travel further in emergency situations.”

Analysis by Plaid Cymru’s National Assembly team discovered only 7 out of the 22 local authorities reached their target for more than 9 months out of the last 18. Pembrokeshire just managed to meet this success rate, but performance has deteriorated worryingly this year.

Mr Thomas added: “Alarm bells are ringing for the Welsh Government. The Health Minister must begin to tackle ambulance response times in Pembrokeshire. Plaid Cymru believes there should be better investment in planning and training of the workforce. If this happened more paramedics could make decisions and carry out treatment without the need for hospital. We would cut down on the paperwork ambulance staff have to do for each call.”