A SHAKE up in the way ambulances respond to 999 calls will see response time targets dropped and all emergency calls categorised into a traffic light system.

The Welsh Ambulance Service yesterday revealed they are changing the way they decide what emergency calls are the most urgent by classing them as red, amber and green.

The eight minute response time target of 65 per cent, which has not been met for the past 20 months, will also be scrapped in all but the most life-threatening cases - expected to be around 150 calls a day.

For the less serious amber and green emergencies, the service will focus on sending the best and most suitable patient care rather than “clock stopping” to get there within eight minutes.

Currently when people call for an ambulance, all emergencies are classed as red until proven otherwise and an emergency vehicle is immediately sent in all cases.

Under the new model, when people call for an ambulance on 999 a computer system will detect emergency trigger words such as "stabbed", "collapsed" or "bleeding to death".

If the call handler decides the call is red - the most serious emergencies where patients will die if they do not receive immediate treatment - emergency vehicles will be immediately sent to arrive ideally within minutes.

If the call is not flagged as red, the caller will stay on the line for up to two minutes while the ambulance service finds out what is wrong.

Emergencies classed as amber will also have “blue light” emergency vehicles sent out, but without the eight minute target.

For the green category, which is expected to cover around 400 patients a week, a vehicle may either be sent out or the case will be suitable for telephone triage.

Richard Lee, head of clinical services at the ambulance trust, said often emergency vehicles are sent when they are not needed, wasting resources which could be used elsewhere. Currently, of the 500 most serious calls received daily by the ambulance service, 20 per cent of patients are not conveyed to hospital.

The Welsh Government scheme is to be piloted across Wales for 12 months from October 1 this year. The change follows the 2013 McClelland review which recommended scrapping the response time target.

Currently the most serious calls category, which covers red one and two, takes in 500 calls a day. Under the new system the new red category is expected to receive 150 calls a day.

Deputy Health Minister Vaughan Gething said he believes the changes will make Wales ambulance services “among the most progressive and transparent in the world”. He said the new clinical response model is based on "firm evidence".

But shadow minister for Health, Darren Millar AM, said the changes will only be effective "if they lead to improved ambulance response times".

Lynne Neagle, AM for Torfaen, said she is pleased the Welsh Government are focussing on the issue but added: "I’m very concerned this move might lead to a perception that we’re moving away from targets, simply because we have not been able to meet them consistently over a very long period of time.

“I’m also very worried that this new approach has not been piloted in Wales previously and so its implementation across Wales and the impact on clinical outcomes must be monitored very closely indeed."