Health Minister Mark Drakeford has announced funding of almost £9.5m for a major upgrade of the Welsh Ambulance Service’s fleet of vehicles.
The money will allow the replacement of 110 vehicles, including emergency ambulances and rapid response vehicles.
The Minister made the announcement ahead of a debate in the National Assembly for Wales on the Ministerial Review of the Welsh Ambulance Service, which was published on 29 April.
Mark Drakeford said: “The volume of calls to the Ambulance Service in Wales has risen by 68% over the last decade. It relies on its vehicles being ready to respond 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“Ambulances in Wales are exposed to harsh conditions and high mileages in many cases. We must, therefore, keep investing in new vehicles so they are on the road and able to provide high quality clinical services.
“Later today we will debate Siobhan McLelland’s Ministerial Review of the Welsh Ambulance Service, which raises a number of interesting options for improving the service further.”
Commenting on a 9.5 million pounds upgrade to the Welsh ambulance fleet, Shadow Minister for Health Darren Millar AM, said: “Labour’s record-breaking cuts have hit our emergency services hard and whilst any new investment in our cash strapped NHS is to be welcomed, I fail to see how a decision to replace old ambulances with new vehicles will make a difference to failing response times.
“The Minister must roll up his sleeves and work hard to address the current crisis in unscheduled care in Wales, from dealing with the shortage of inpatient beds in our hospitals to increasing the number of ambulances and paramedics on our roads.
“It is only actions like these which will really improve performance in the future.”
The Welsh Ambulance Service review, being debated on Tuesday, has called for paramedics to have extra training on patient care and an end to the eight minute target response time.
Three different models are put forward for the future of the ambulance service in Wales.
- Turn the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust into a board and give it an equal with the other health boards.
- Keep the present relationship with health boards commissioning services but with clearer procedures.
- Abolish the trust and give ambulance responsibilities to each of the health boards, although the report has highlighted the legal difficulties with this option.
The report also states that health boards have to stop using ambulances for non-urgent patient transport.