MORE than 80 people waited longer than the eight-minute ‘red’ target for ambulance responses each month this winter across the Hywel Dda Health Board region.

A series of Freedom of Information requests by the Welsh Conservatives revealed figures for ambulance response times across Wales in the months of December 2017, January 2018, and February 2018.

The WAS breaks ambulance calls down by their levels of seriousness into red, amber, and green.

In a red-level call, the best expected arrival time for an ambulance is within eight minutes.

Time targets for amber and green calls were removed in 2015 and are instead measured on the quality of care being delivered.

The WAS responded to 165 red-level incidents within the eight minute target in December last year, but 89 incidents saw responses after this time target.

In January, the WAS responded to 172 red-level incidents within eight minutes, but 92 were responded to after this time target.

In February, the WAS responded to 167 red-level incidents within eight minutes, but 88 were responded to after this time target.

A WAS spokesperson said it aims to reach a minimum of 65 percent red incidents in eight minutes, and added this target had been exceeded every month across Wales.

“We work hard to reach as many patients in this category as possible in that time, but the reality is that there will always be some cases where the availability of resources, the geography and nature of the call mean that we are not able to arrive within that window.”

The Welsh Conservatives raised concerns about the waiting times for amber calls, which the party described as “shockingly high.”

Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Secretary, Angela Burns AM, said there were serious questions for Welsh Government to answer.