THE twin boroughs' health watchdog has welcomed a move to help ambulances arrive on the scene of life-threatening emergencies more quickly.

Frank Clifford, chairman of the community health council, said he had every confidence that Lancashire ambulance service could meet new government targets.

Calls to the ambulance service will now be prioritised, and serious cases such as heart attacks will take precedence. In such cases, ambulances will be expected to arrive within eight minutes.

Mr Clifford told the Citizen: "Anything which ensures that an ambulance is dispatched quickly to someone having a massive heart attack is to be welcomed.

"It is just disappointing that Lancashire is not one of the services chosen to pilot the scheme."

Service chief David Hill said: "For certain conditions, the arrival of a paramedic within eight minutes can be absolutely critical in saving lives.

"We are currently getting to around 70 per cent of all cases within eight minutes and to more than 98 per cent within 19 minutes.

"We very much support the changes and look forward to implementing them."

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