IT IS with some level of disbelief that we report on the state of our ambulance service today.

The picture painted in an action plan designed to solve some of the well-documented problems in this area makes for pretty grim reading.

The joint report by Aneurin Bevan Health Board and the Welsh Ambulance Services Trust reveals that Gwent has the worst ratio in Wales in terms of demand versus the number of ambulances available and that some areas need double the existing levels.

This is pretty damning, given the number of times this subject has been visited in recent years.

How ever many revamps or in fact chief executives the ambulance service has had, it seems to us that the service has not got any better.

This is definitely not a criticism of the staff at the front line.They do the best job they can possibly do.

But the ambulance service in Wales is either being poorly managed or it is simply not resourced well enough.

Whatever the answer, the action plan shows that it will be at least another three or four months before we should start to see some improvement.

We think it is not over-stating it to say that people in this south east corner of Wales have been severely let down. And that this appalling situation has been allowed to go on for far too long.