The Welsh Ambulance Service has received a ringing endorsement from the Welsh Assembly Government - a £6.3 million cash injection for new vehicles. The money, which was approved by the Welsh Assembly Government earlier this year, will go towards further boosting the serviceís fleet and will include provision for some very special vehicles. It is in addition to the £16 million announced last October and which is already being used to bring on stream 119 state of the art emergency ambulances, 67 Patient Transport Services vehicles and 41 Rapid Response cars. It comes as well as response times for the Ambulance Service continue to improve with all three regions, North, South East and Central and West now consistently beating target times for emergency responses. That target is for 60 per cent of emergencies to be reached within eight minutes and Chief Executive Alan Murrayís Time To Make A Difference modernisation plan has helped achieve this target. During April ambulances in Wales reached 66.3 per cent of emergencies within eight minutes ñ six months ago that figure was 55.4 per cent and in February it fell to 49.8. South East, once the worst performing region, led the way at 68.1 with North on 65.8 and Central and West on 64.6. That improvement was maintained in May with all three regions over the 60 per cent mark and an overall figure of 65.7 per cent. Welsh Ambulance Service Chief Executive Alan Murray said, "A target was set for us to get to 60 per cent of all emergencies within eight minutes. "Until a few months ago that, looked like a pipe dream, but we are committed to improving and with the help of our new vehicles and the continued commitment and support from staff, we are turning that dream into a reality". The news of the new cash was greeted with enthusiasm by Tony Cowley, the Ambulance Service's National Fleet Manager, who has played a pivotal role in designing the new ambulances which cost £115,000 each He said: "The extra money will enable us to build 32 more new ambulances, 30 extra Patient Transport vehicles, nine new RRVs and a number of specialist vehicles. "The Welsh Assembly Government is now seeing the fruits of all the hard work the Ambulance Service has been doing and in supporting us are showing they have the confidence to further invest in us. "The Ambulance Service is well and truly getting tooled up for the job". As well as the more conventional vehicles there will be 16 specialist units including three for command and control and welfare which can be used for major incidents and outdoor events and which have catering and toilet facilities. Mr Cowley said: "This gives us the opportunity to give our staff somewhere to have a rest because in this day and age itís important that we look after them and they will also bolster our command and control capacity". He added that the new ambulances have been designed to make for a better working environment for staff and for patients, by reducing the amount of lifting and handling that has to be done.
