New analysis from Truro and Falmouth Labour, reveals that across our Southwest ambulance service, 3,481 patients with emergency conditions had to wait over 6 hours and 39 minutes for an ambulance in December. The target is 18 minutes. 

Across the country, some 37,000 people with "emergency" conditions, such as suspected strokes or heart attacks, had to wait more than 3 hours and 40 minutes for an ambulance in December. 

The average response time in Cornwall for 'Category 2 ambulance calls' was a staggering 3 hours 38 minutes 

One in ten patients in this category waited 9 hours 39 minutes or longer. The actual target for 90% of cases to have been responded to is 40 minutes. 

Category 2 is for "emergency calls" – for conditions such as heart attacks and strokes. The target is 18 minutes. 

Publishing the figures, Labour's Parliamentary Candidate for Truro and Falmouth, Jayne Kirkham said, 

"Thousands of people are waiting hours for an ambulance when it should be there in minutes. After 13 years of Conservative failure, the terrifying truth is that patients in Cornwall can no longer rely on the NHS being there for them in an emergency. Heart attack and stroke victims are left waiting and waiting when every second counts.  

"But Labour has a plan. The next Labour government will provide the biggest expansion of NHS staff in history to treat patients on time again, and reform the health service to make it fit for the future. We will train 7,500 more doctors and 10,000 more nurses and midwives every year, paid for by abolishing the non-dom tax status. Patients in Cornwall need doctors and nurses more than the wealthiest need a tax break."