Working for You

Published in Brecon and Radnor Express on Mon 16th May 2005

As the Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for Brecon and Radnorshire I am delighted to introduce the first in a series of monthly columns giving me the chance to let you all know what I've been up to and what's been happening at the Assembly. Even though the Assembly has been with us for 6 years, I know constituents are still unsure what the 60 Assembly Members actually do on their behalf. That was the message from the Crickhowell and Llangattock branch of Arthritis Care when they visited the Assembly this week. Anybody can come and watch plenary and committee sessions at the Assembly for free - just ring 029 2089 8477 to book a seat - and I'm pleased that most visitors find the experience much more interesting than they expected!!

I was delighted, although not surprised, to see our MP, Roger Williams, returned to Parliament, and I know that he appreciates all of your support. Elections are always a stressful time for politicians, and although this was considerably less nerve-wracking than my own elections, there's no denying that there was some emotion involved - those of you who were watching the BBC's election night coverage when the Ceredigion result was announced will have seen that in my reaction!

I was reminded this month of the vital role our emergency service provides when an accident at home resulted in me accompanying my 3-year-old daughter to hospital. Luckily, the ambulance responded in good time and it turned out not to be too serious. However I am well aware that others are not so fortunate. Concerns and complaints about ambulance response times, the lack of trained paramedics available to ambulance crews and working conditions for ambulance staff, have been a constant throughout my time as an AM, and whilst some progress has been made it is an issue that I continue to press the Government on almost weekly. Indeed, I have been so vocal on the issue that the Ambulance Trust has banned me accompanying crews as they go about their work.

I'm sure some in Cardiff would say that poor ambulance response times are the price we pay for living in the countryside, but why should a person's address dictate the standards of health care they can expect? Rural communities are not second class communities. Scrapping government targets that lead to resources being spent in urban areas, increasing the number of 24-hour ambulance stations and training more paramedics would go along way to improving the situation and, I believe, save people's lives.

It is vital that we also look at the way ambulance staff are treated. These hard-working individuals devote their careers to the welfare of others, and yet some staff are paid just £9 for being on-call from midnight until 8am, whilst others work from premises not fit for purpose. These conditions are clearly unacceptable, and action must be taken. I can only hope that continual pressure from myself, ambulance staff and patients, will be enough to force the Government and managers to improve the situation.