THE WELSH Ambulance service will get a £11m funding boost from the Welsh Government, Health minister Mark Drakeford announced today.

The move will see £8m go to the Emergency Ambulance Services Committee (EASC), which commissions the emergency ambulance services on behalf of health boards. This money is from the extra £40m of winter pressures money for the NHS announced by Finance Minister Jane Hutt earlier this month.

The remaining £3m will buy purchase 17 new ambulances to join the existing fleet of 243 emergency ambulances.

A Welsh Government spokesman said the extra funding would help the Welsh Ambulance Service respond to rising demand, particularly over recent winter months. For example, on New Year’s Day 2015, the service responded to 17.5% more category A emergency calls than on January 1, 2014.

Professor Drakeford said the investment was proof of the Welsh Government's commitment to improving the performance of the emergency ambulance service.

He said: “It will increase the number of frontline emergency ambulances available across Wales. The Emergency Ambulance Services Committee has also invested £7.5m to allow the ambulance service to employ 120 additional paramedics.

“This significant package of investment will help ensure the ambulance service is in a better position to provide a swift response to life-threatening calls across Wales.”

Stephen Harrhy, the new chief ambulance services commissioner for Wales, added: “This additional ring-fenced funding for emergency ambulance services will support initiatives, which will be agreed jointly by the Emergency Ambulance Services Committee, health boards and the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust. “Immediate action will be taken which will not only help improve response times but, more importantly, deliver an improved clinical service.”