SIR,

Last week, I met with representatives of the Welsh Ambulance NHS Trust at various levels of the service and discussed many issues.

One frightening statistic with respect to shift cover was provided to the Health Group. It surprised me more than any other.

In July of this year 18 shifts out of 62 were not covered. This figure was the same for August. That means that around a third of shifts were not covered for two months this year.

Therefore, if you saw an ambulance in Monmouth in July or September, there is a 30 per cent chance, that was all it was doing.

Those figures highlight why a scrutiny inquiry into the trust, including provision, funding, and performance by the National Assembly for Wales, is absolutely vital.

Mat Davies

(Monmouth)