The latest statistics for June show ambulance transfer waiting times fell by over 87% compared with the previous month with almost three-quarters of people transferred in just 15 minutes.

Speaking yesterday, health secretary, Jeremy Miles, said: ‘Today's figures show that our focus on improving ambulance patient handover performance is working, with handover times in June the lowest since September 2021.

‘With improvements in same day emergency care and patient flow in place, significant progress is being made in most areas of Wales.'

The improved ambulance handovers followed the introduction of a national taskforce to reduce delays.

Changes to the way ambulances respond to the most serious 999 calls were introduced on 1 July with a new purple category created for people suffering from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and the red category being retained for the life-threatening emergencies for people at high risk of cardiac or respiratory arrest, including serious illnesses and trauma.

A new ‘orange: time sensitive' category for people with clear symptoms of stroke and other serious conditions such as acute coronary syndrome or heart attacks, will come into effect before the winter.

New yellow and green categories for people with symptoms that would benefit from further clinical assessment and access to community alternatives, scheduled transport to hospital or to be discharged over the telephone or at scene, will also be introduced.

Waiting time performance was mixed elsewhere, however, with figures showing the longest waits for treatment increased in May, as anticipated.

June saw the third highest daily attendances at emergency care facilities on record but the average time from arrival to triage was 16 minutes, the shortest since February 2021.

A spokesperson for the Welsh NHS Confederation said ‘sustained capital investment – in NHS estates and infrastructure – to boost productivity' was required to see whole system improvements as well as ‘an accelerated solution to the pressures facing our social care system and a whole-Government shift towards prevention, to reduce demand in the first place and create a healthier nation.'