The service is failing to meet 999 targets

West Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service is accused of exaggerating the speed with which it answers the most urgent 999 calls.

Government figures suggest that the service's performance is better than average.

But Friday's report, by the Commission for Health Improvement, says it is actually missing targets - responding to just 60% of life-threatening calls within eight minutes.

The Department of Health target is for 75% of those calls to be met within that time.

The service hit the headlines last July, when a fire engine was sent to attend a man dying from a heart attack, because there were no ambulances in the area.

Response time

According to the commission the service also downgraded some of the most urgent Category A calls, if they turned out to be less serious than was thought.

It said that in one case the clock calculating a response time seemed to have been started after the ambulance arrived at the scene.

According to the West Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service, it has now completely revised procedures.

Jane Barnes, director of Nursing at NHS Direct which helps run WYMAS, said: "We did take immediate action once this was brought to our attention to rectify the problem."

The Department of Health says it recognises that response times can be recorded inconsistently.

It is currently holding discussions about how to improve them.

'Sincere condolences'

Last year the ambulance service apologised to the family of 54-year-old Andrew Clarkson, who died of a heart attack after a fire crew were sent to help him.

It said: "We would like to offer our sincere condolences to the family.

"We would also like to apologise for the response which was not within our normal high levels of performance."

Mr Clarkson's nephew, Stephen Day, 25, praised the fire crew for its efforts, but said that the family was "frantic" waiting for the ambulance.

He said: "My family are upset that on the rare occasion we needed an ambulance, it did not turn up."

The Association of Professional Ambulance Personnel (APAP) said the report highlighted a lack of honesty by ambulance trusts in dealing with targets imposed on them.

A spokesman said: "These targets have created a culture of competition, secrecy and in the worst case scenario manipulation.

"The APAP would wish for an honest and consistent collation of statistics relating to performance targets by all ambulance trusts, instead of the 'must succeed at all costs culture' that prevails today."

Shadow Health Secretary Dr Liam Fox said: "Yet again Labour's approach forces professionals into taking unethical action."

"How can Alan Milburn [the Health Secretary] live with himself when the people of West Yorkshire have been so blatantly conned to keep him happy?"