Written question WQ100748
- Asked by
- Louise EmeryReform
- To be answered by
- Cabinet Minister for Health and Care
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 9 days
Question
How is the Welsh Government working with the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust to reduce the amount of time taken to respond to category red calls?
Answer
Answered by Cabinet Minister for Health and Care (Mabon ap Gwynfor)
The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust is taking forward a programme of work to optimise performance through its new clinical response model. This includes strengthening clinical triage and navigation arrangements so that more people receive assessment by the most appropriate clinician and are directed to the most suitable care pathway, helping to reduce demand on emergency ambulance resources while ensuring people receive timely care according to their clinical needs. The work also includes reviewing workforce and clinical navigator capacity and improving operational processes ahead of winter.
Improving ambulance availability also requires whole-system action. We are working with the Trust and health boards to reduce ambulance handover delays, improve hospital flow and discharge and strengthen community alternatives.
NHS Wales Performance and Improvement is scrutinising improvement plans and trajectories, and the clinical response model is being independently evaluated to assess its impact on response times, patient outcomes and system performance.