AMBULANCE response figures for April 2015, released last week show, that Monmouthshire remains one of the worst regions in Wales for emergencies reached within eight minutes.

The eight minute mark is set as the target for paramedics to reach a Category A – immediately life-threatening – emergency.

According to the April 2015 report released on Wednesday 27th May, 55.7 per cent of Monmouthshire's Category A calls are reached within eight minutes, putting the county 14th out of Wales' 22 regions.

This leaves Monmouthshire behind the national average of 58.7 per cent, which in turn is short of the Welsh target of 65 per cent. Only three regions are ahead of that national target.

Despite this, Monmouthshire's performance is at the highest level for more than a year. The county's 14th position is well above recent performances, including being the worst performing region in Wales as recently as February 2015.

The county's eight minute response time has only once hit the 50 per cent mark in the last 12 months too, in August 2014.

In December 2014, the eight minute response percentage got as low as 33.2 per cent and has climbed since, with April's figures representing a large jump from the previous month's 46.2 per cent.

Tracy Myhill, chief executive at the Welsh Ambulance Service, said: "It's very encouraging that our response times have improved yet again."

"There's also an improvement against the overall Category A target, which is reflective of the work we are doing to stabilise the service and system in order to create a foundation from which to improve.

"Our aim is to continue our improvement and remain focused on delivering excellent clinical care to the people that need our help.

"I'd also like to thank the people of Wales for the continuous stream of positive feedback we are receiving, thanking crews across Wales. They mean a lot to staff who work so hard and are a credit to us.

"We'd ask the public to continue to support us by using the service appropriately. We still get called far too often to calls that do not need a Welsh Ambulance Service response. Please only call for an ambulance if you're seriously ill or injured or your life is at risk."

There is advice and information on the NHS Direct Wales website to check the right course of action compared to their symptoms.

The free Choose Well app is available for smartphones and tablets too, which is the official guide to choosing the correct NHS service needed.