Ambulance services have been labelled "second rate" after statistics showed people in life-threatening situations face massive inconsistencies over how long it takes to get help.
Figures show that in the vast majority of cases, ambulances arrive at emergencies in Gloucestershire's two major urban areas - Gloucester and Cheltenham - in less than seven minutes.
But in the Cotswolds, that number is closer to 15 minutes - way above the national target of eight minutes. In the Forest of Dean, the eight minute target is being met 55.7 per cent of the time. In Stroud 55.8 per cent, the Cotswolds 45.6 per cent, Gloucester 87.5 per cent, Tewkesbury 56.7 per cent and Cheltenham 88.4 per cent.
The South Western Ambulance Service Foundation Trust (SWASFT), which is responsible for providing Gloucestershire's service, aims to hit the eight-minute target for life-threatening situations 75 per cent of the time.
Overall in 2013/14, it has managed to make eight minutes or less about 70 per cent of the time.
The ambulance service in Gloucestershire has been loaded up with increasing pressure in the last 18 months. Changes to the way non emergency calls via 111 have been handled have placed services under pressure. And the control room used to mobilise county call-outs has recently relocated from Gloucester to Bristol. Merging the Great Western Ambulance Service with the South West has also seen facilities stretched over a much larger area.
Councillor Barry Kirby, (Lab, Grange and Kingsway) said: "The service knew that these changes were coming in and there should have been better planning and organisation to make sure it could cope.
"Behind these figures and statistics are people, it is very easy to forget that, and that is wrong. "There needs to be a review of how the service operates in Gloucestershire going forward so people get the service and care they deserve."
A closer look at the data for the two most critical types of calls – immediately life threatening and potentially life threatening situations – shows the Trust hit the target in the Cotswolds less than 50 per cent of the time. In Stroud and the Forest of Dean, that figure only rises slightly to a little under 56 per cent.
Councillor Lynden Stowe (C, Campden Vale), leader of Cotswold District Council, said: "The figures demonstrate that the current ambulance service is not fit for purpose and we are clearly under resourced in the Cotswolds."
Meanwhile, Councillor Paul Hodgkinson (LD, Bourton and Northleach) has submitted a motion to Gloucestershire County Council calling on the Trust to "urgently improve".
He said: "At the moment, the performance in rural areas is dreadful."
Deputy director of service delivery at the trust, Neil Le Chevalier, said SWASFT has "consistently" been one of the top performing services.
"We have a number of initiatives in place that will improve our response performance in rural areas as well as delivering even better care," he said. "These include community responder schemes, the installation of public access defibrillators and in care homes."
Shane Clark, Unison representative of the SWASFT, said: "These figures do not take into consideration the population of the area covered. "Our trust covers seven counties, it is no surprise the Isle of Wight is the best performing as it has the smallest population.
"We are proud that we keep 75 per cent of our patients at home, and because of that we are one of the best performing trusts.
"I worked all over Easter, and at most of the community hospitals there were no doctors working, so care defaulted back to the ambulance service. That puts extra pressure on us.
"The trust is having a hard time of it, but we are still feeling the pressures of 111 and the government's continuing privatisation plans. Until that changes we will continue to struggle with these targets."Nine out of the 11 regional NHS ambulance services saw response times go up between December 2011 and December last year, according to performance figures published by NHS England.
The biggest rise in response times was found in the East of England.
There, the ambulance service has been heavily criticised for deaths following delays over the last year.
The service's average response time increased from 295.2 seconds to 405 seconds over the last two years.
In December, health minister Norman Lamb called for a shake up of paramedic response targets in rural areas after 26 year old chef Peter Nelson died from a brain haemorrhage at his home in the remote coastal village of Blakeney, Norfolk.
The minister of state for care and support said he would urgently raise the issue with NHS England medical director Sir Bruce Keogh and described the case was "all too familiar".
