PARTS of Gwent had the slowest ambulance response times in Wales last month, as the 'worst ever' figures released today revealed.

In Torfaen on 28.3% of the most urgent 'Category A' calls were answered within the target time of eight minutes, down massively on November's figure of 44.5%, making it the worst performing area in Wales. Caerphilly saw only 31.9% of these calls were answered within the target time, down from 42.9%, placing it third from bottom, above Rhondda Cynon Taf at 29.9% and Torfaen.

Blaenau Gwent fared little better with only 31.9% answered within the target time, down from 45.3%, while Monmouthshire saw only 33.2%, down from 46.2%. Newport performed better with 43.7% of these calls answered within the target time, down from 53.1%.

The proportion of ambulances across Wales hitting the response time target fell well below half in December with only 42.6% of the most urgent calls being answered within eight minutes.

This is down on November 2014 when 51% of these calls were answered within eight minutes.

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “These figures demonstrate the immense pressure the Welsh Ambulance Service was under throughout December. The demand on the service was unprecedented, with the service receiving 40,147 calls during the month, or around 1,295 a day. They are nevertheless disappointing and there is no complacency about the need to improve performance.

“The Ambulance Services’ own figures show it received a record high demand for an emergency response to patients in imminent danger of death - 10.8% higher than the second highest number of Red 1 calls reported in December 2012.”

He added: “Improving the performance of the emergency ambulance service is a priority for the Welsh Government. The £11m package of investment the Health Minister announced yesterday is proof of that commitment.

“The additional investment will allow the Ambulance Service to purchase 17 new additional frontline emergency ambulances, which will join the existing fleet of 243 emergency ambulances. A further £8m will ensure the ambulance service is in a better position to provide a swift response to life-threatening calls across Wales.

“This package complements the extra £7.5m investment from EASC to employ 120 additional frontline emergency ambulance staff this financial year.”

Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew RT Davies said the figures were "truly appalling" and showed "the mess in which the Health Minister now finds himself".

He added: "Clearly urgent action must now be taken to address the alarming decline in ambulance response times.

“These are the worst response times on record and it is vital that the health minister works with all interested parties to address the very serious issues facing the ambulance service in Wales.

Meanwhile Kirsty Williams, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats said the figures were "absolutely appalling" and the Welsh Labour Government should be "ashamed".

“The fact that some areas are seeing response rates as low as 30% for urgent calls is inexcusable. Behind these statistics are people who are often in desperate need of attention and who are sadly not getting the care they need in the appropriate time.

Shadow Health Minister Elin Jones for Plaid Cymru said the response times were "of no surprise" given that we know of ambulances queuing outside hospitals over the last few weeks".

She added: "Paramedics are having to face the pressures on the service caused by the lack of integration of Health and Social Care and the lack of planning. My concern is that while ambulances are queuing outside hospitals then there are large areas of Wales left without ambulance cover for long periods at a time.”

Lynne Neagle, AM for Torfaen, said: “I have consistently raised poor response times with the Welsh Government and with the Ambulance Trust. I am making further, urgent representations about the latest figures for Torfaen which are completely unacceptable.”

Paul Murphy. MP for Torfaen, said: “These figures are simply not good enough and local people are getting fed up with excuses for consistently poor performance. Working with Lynne, I will continue to make it clear to the Ambulance Trust that they must do whatever it takes to urgently turn this situation around.”

The figures in full showed: There were 40,147 emergency calls, 11.2% up on November 2014 and 7.6% up on December 2013.

Of these, 16,078 were Category A (immediately life-threatening) calls, 14.3% up on November 2014 and 9.3% up on December 2013.

42.6% of emergency responses to Category A (immediately life-threatening) calls arrived at the scene within 8 minutes – down from 51.0% in November 2014 and from 57.6% in December 2013 – and below the target of 65%.

47.4% of Category A calls received an emergency response within 9 minutes, 52.0% within 10 minutes, 68.9% within 15 minutes, 79.1% within 20 minutes and 89.8% within 30 minutes.