26/03/2014 BBC Wales Today

in a moment with analysis of that debate between Nick Clegg and

Good evening. The proportion of ambulances turning up on time to the

most urgent calls has reached a new low. Figures show less than 53% of

emergency responses to life-threatening calls arrived at

the scene within eight minutes last month. Opposition parties say the

situation is a "national disgrace". But the Health Minister is now

planning a major overhaul of how performance is measured. Here's our

Health Correspondent, Owain Clarke. In an emergency, sometimes every

second counts, and driving a car means this paramedic can weave his

way more quickly through the traffic. It is a priority call from

the parents of a baby having a fit. The idea of a rapid response vehicle

is to get there quicker than an ambulance and provide immediate

treatment. The baby responded well after overheating, but just in case,

back-up arrives. If speed is important, it is clear that the

Welsh ambulance service is struggling to keep up. This graph

tells the story, it has consistently fallen short of the target. Today's

figures show that in February, the performance reached a new low.

Ambulances in England and Scotland perform much better. It emerged that

the police had set targets should be suspended on one weekend when the

weather was at its worst. The minister went further than blaming

the weather, arguing ambulance targets themselves are flawed. They

get to somebody in eight minutes and that person does not survive but

they have met the target. They get to somebody in nine minutes, that

person survives and the target has been field. It is not measuring what

is important for the outcome for patients. New performance indicators

are on the way, focusing on quality and not speed, in other words, the

effect any treatment had on a patient. One example would be to

measure how long it takes to bring life-saving drugs to a patient who

has had a stroke or a heart attack. It has also been suggested targets

could change. Opposition parties claim any attempt to ditch the

current target would be a backward step. The Minister must commit to

monitoring and publishing the response time for ambulances, he

cannot simply change the target because of his government's failure

to meet it. What we are doing is looking at the outcome of patients

and the care we provide. The government rejected the accusation

that these are an attempt to bury bad news. It insists the targets

will continue alongside the new targets. Opposition parties have

criticised the Welsh Government, after MP Ann Clwyd was prevented

from giving evidence to the Assembly about the NHS. A proposal was put

forward to invite the Labour Cynon Valley member to give details to the

Health Committee about correspondence she had received from

patients, but the idea was voted down by Labour AMs. A Welsh Labour

spokesman said it would be constitutionally inappropriate for

her to speak to the Committee. The company behind plans for a Severn

Barrage, Hafren Power, has lost its second chief executive in six

months. Mike Davies was appointed in November. He now intends to create a

new business to pursue the 25 billion pound energy project. Obese

children in Wales are having to wait until they're adults to get some

treatment to help tackle their weight. That's the finding of a

committee of Assembly Members. Wales has the highest rate of childhood

obesity in the UK. The Welsh Government said it would respond in

due course. Half the schools in Wales were either wholly or

partially closed today by the latest in a series of strikes by the

National Union of Teachers. It's all part of a long running dispute with

the UK government over pay and pensions. Teachers marched to the

National Assembly to show their feelings. Here's our education

correspondent Arwyn Jones. It was the same picture in hundreds of

schools. Empty playgrounds and locked gates. They and thousands

like them had a day off school. Over 200 teachers descended to show their

opposition to proposals to change their pay and conditions, the most

contentious being a move to performance related pay. We all try

to do our best, but in Wales we have some of the most deprived

communities in the UK. In the leafy suburbs you can get children to

achieve with far less effort than in the valleys unveils of Wales. --

vales. I think it is invidious to set one teacher against another.

Even though education is devolved, pensions is still a matter for the

Westminster Government. A government report earlier this month

recommended devolving paid to the Welsh assembly. -- and major report.

That has been argued against by the majority of union members. The

recommendation is being considered, but whoever pays them is neither

here nor there, according to the unions. We need to deal with what is

going on in Westminster, we need to secure the changes with the people

who are responsible at this time. The strike comes down to two

different views of how to teach our children. For the union, happy

teachers are better teachers, but for the government of the UK,

performance is better. Investigations are continuing into a

possible connection between a salmonella outbreak, and laver bread

produced by a firm in Gower. 12 adults have contracted the bug, and

the company has removed its laver bread from sale as a precaution.

Jenny Rees reports. Seaweed is not that appetising in this state, but

if you boil it and mince it, you have what Richard Burton famously

described as Welsh caviar. Little has changed in the way laver bread

is collected. Love it or loathe it, it is considered a delicacy. But

public health Wales is now investigating an outbreak of Salman

Eller. -- salmonella. All the samples we have taken has been

negative, even up to the most recent samples. We are all clear with the

results, but as a precautionary measure, we have voluntarily

withdrawn the product. 12 cases have been confirmed. Three people have

needed hospital treatment. Currently we are interviewing cases and people

with different levels of illness to compare this case to what people

usually eat. There will be further investigations at the manufacture

centres. Laver bread starts off as seaweed, harvested across the Welsh

coast. The company is hosting that if the test results come across as

negative, they will be able to restock shelves next week. It may be

spring but it is not warming up much yet.

spring but it is not warming Temperatures are dropping and we are

in for a chilly few days with wind coming from Russia, bringing a few

scattered showers. It should start to feel a little bit warmer over the

weekend. Some dry weather tonight but also a few showers and sleet in

places. I would not rule out frost in places. Tomorrow, a mixture of

sunny intervals and showers sums it up. Elsewhere, many places dry,

sunshine in Aberystwyth. Across the rest of the UK, a real mix.

Scattered showers, some of them heavy, with the risk of hail and

thunder. Some sunshine in Belfast tomorrow, easterly breeze. A mixture

of sunny intervals tomorrow afternoon, the showers heavy in

places, some snow for the Brecon Beacons and the mountains in

Snowdonia. Most of the showers will die away tomorrow night, many places

becoming dry. We could see some rain affecting parts of the North East. A

mixed bag on Friday. Further showers. And easterly breeze.

Temperature is a little higher. That set the scene for the weekend. The

wind turns into the south-east, temperatures will rise. It will feel

more like spring. Good news. That is the news today. Goodbye.