GOVERNMENT statistics have identified Hampshire Ambulance NHS Trust as the fourth most poorly performing ambulance service in England, after it failed to meet emergency response time targets.

But the trust insists that things are improving and that targets are now consistently being met.

The figures released by the Department of Health showed that in the year 2001/02 Hampshire Ambulance responded to 66.9 per cent of life-threatening emergency Category A calls within eight minutes - well short of the governmentÕs 75 per cent target.

Only East Anglian, West Country and London Ambulance Services missed the governmentÕs target by a larger margin, from 32 ambulance services in England.

The countryÕs top performer was Staffordshire, which reached 87.5 per cent of calls within eight minutes.

Last yearÕs figures showed only three services met the target, but this latest data for average performance over the year shows the figure has risen to 14.

The government claims figures for March 2002 show 28 out of 32 trusts met the 75 per cent target in that month, and that it expects all trusts to hit the target by the end of the year.

Hampshire Ambulance narrowly missed meeting a target of 95 per cent for responding to Category A calls within 19 minutes. It achieved 94 per cent.

For less serious, Category B and C calls, Hampshire Ambulance Trust reached 53.8 per cent in eight minutes and 92.8 within 19 minutes.

Although the figures do not paint a good picture of the county, Hampshire Ambulance insists that it has been reaching and exceeding the 75 per cent eight-minute target for some months.

A statement from Hampshire Ambulance said: ÒHampshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust has consistently achieved the required performance standards for life-threatening incidents set by the government since December 2001.

ÒThe performance standards agreed, required Hampshire Ambulance to reach 75 per cent of life threatening incidents within eight minutes by this date. The service has consistently exceeded this target.

ÒThe statistical bulletin published identifies the achievement for the year 2001-02 as being 66.9 per cent, which exceeded a locally-agreed target of 66.1 per cent.Ó

Hampshire Ambulance also pointed out that it had managed to achieve this improvement despite an 8.4 per cent increase in the number of emergency calls it received.

National the increase was a significantly lower 6.7 per cent.

It also said that, with an increase in the number of non-emergency journeys it has been required to make over the past year, its workload has increased by 12.3 per cent.

A Department of Health spokesman said that the government was ÒpleasedÓ with the improvements.