EMERGENCY ambulance response times improved across Gwent's five local authority areas during March, despite an increase of more than 10 per cent in calls against the same period last year.

Performance in reaching category A emergency calls inside eight minutes improved for the second month in succession following the trials of a tough winter.

Responses inside eight minutes in Newport, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen and Monmouthshire all topped the 60 per cent target for individual council areas, though there remains a considerable difference between the best (Newport, 77.3 per cent), and the worst (Monmouthshire, 62.8 per cent).

As significant, the overall performance for the Aneurin Bevan Health Board area was 70.6 per cent for category A calls answered inside eight minutes, above the Wales-wide target of 65 per cent for the second successive month.

Comparison month-on-month, particularly given that March is three days longer than February, can be misleading.

But the improvements in March have been achieved against a big increase in calls, close to 2,800 more, from March 2010.

In Gwent's five council areas there were 662 more emergency calls this March compared to March 2010, 393 of which were category A, the most serious.

Improvements suggest that the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust is achieving a better balance in terms of staffing and deployment than it has had in the past, but bosses will be keen to see the improvements sustained.

Another factor that is likely to be contributing to better emergency response times performance is improved handover times at hospitals such as the Royal Gwent in Newport.

Figures to the middle of March, the latest available, suggested handover times were quickening, helping get crews back out on the road instead of being delayed while patients are handed over to A&E.