MORE than 300,000 emergency calls were made to the ambulance service in Gwent over the past four years – around 200 ‘999’ calls a day.

Welsh Government figures reveal the strain put upon the Welsh Ambulance Service, with a total of 302,305 ‘999’ calls made from the five Gwent local authority areas between January 2007 and November 2011.

The figures show a total of 58,081 calls were made in 2007; 60,995 in 2008; 58,950 in 2009; 63,155 in 2010, and; 61,124 from January until November last year. Figures for December 2011 are not yet available.

An ambulance service spokesman said a range of initiatives aimed at managing 999 calls more effectively had been introduced to help ensure ambulances are “freed up for life-threatening emergencies only.”

He said: “Newly qualified specialist practitioners can nowprovide specialist care at a scene or at a patient’s home and professional nurses, supported by a paramedic in the control room, can provide clinical expertise to patients over the telephone and advise them on appropriate care if an ambulance response is not required.”

Last week, the Argus reported how emergency ambulance response times improved in November, with a 12.8 per cent rise in Monmouthshire, a 9.3 per cent increase in Newport, 8.8 per cent in Torfaen, 5.9 per cent in Blaenau Gwent and 4.7 per cent in Caerphilly. The trust is performing above target in each of the local authority areas.

Monmouth MP David Davies met ambulance service bosses recently to discuss concerns over slow 999 response times, following two cases in Monmouthshire where ambulances were delayed in reaching patients.

Ambulance service targets say 65 per cent of immediately life-threatening calls should be responded to within eight minutes, but an inquest heard one woman was left waiting more than 41 minutes after collapsing at her home in January last year and the family of a premature baby say they waited 17 minutes for an ambulance to arrive after he stopped breathing.

Mr Davies said he received assurances that changes had been made and better crossborder arrangements with ambulance trusts in England were also under way, so that an English ambulance can respond to an emergency in Wales if it is the closest available.

Number of emergency calls made in Gwent

COUNTY 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Total Mon 7,232 7,491 7,730 8,180 7,848 8,481 Newport 15,545 15,582 15,840 16,453 15,734 79,154 Torfaen 9,029 9,386 9,585 10,280 10,043 48,323 B Gwent 7,374 7,652 7,990 8,492 8,551 40,059 Caerphilly 18,901 20,884 17,805 19,750 18,948 96,288 Gwent 58,081 60,995 58,950 63,155 61,124 302,305

EDITORIAL COMMENT: A good time to say thanks

IT’S DIFFICULT without figures from other areas of similar size to Gwent to know if the 300,000 emergency calls made to the ambulance service over the last four years is overly high.

What it does show, however, is the huge pressure the service is under, with around 200 ‘999’ calls from this region alone in any one day.

We have not been silent with criticism of the Welsh Ambulance Service over the years.

Some of the lengths of time on waits for an ambulance have been nothing short of a scandal. It is a concern that was echoed by many patients and politicians.

This in part was said to be a result of delays in transferring patients at hospital.

What was clear, as we said, is that there was something seriously wrong with the management of the service and we called for the entire service to start again from scratch.

We have never once criticised the men and women paramedics on the front line, who have a difficult enough job to deal with anyway, without problems spilling from the top.

Response times have been showing some improvement recently and for that we are thankful.

It is vital this continues and that the work that is being put in to remedy the situation continues.

It’s also a good time to say thanks to all those paramedics and the 999 operators who do a wonderful job under the most difficult and often traumatic circumstances.