Its failure to get enough ambulances out sufficiently quickly puts lives in danger. No-one doubts that under-pressure ambulance crews are working hard to get to patients – even responding to some emergencies from home – but managers have yet to find a cure to deep-seated problems which mean performance in parts of the region has been sub-standard for far too long.

Yorkshire people, unlike those in other parts of the country, have to put up with a poor service, with only 68 per cent of calls between April and October reached in eight minutes, compared with a target of 75 per cent. Last month, patients in some areas, such as Calderdale and Kirklees, found they were still well below the benchmark level despite improvements elsewhere.

It has created a postcode lottery, but seriously unwell Yorkshire men and women should not feel that their chance of survival depends on the location of the town in which they choose to live.

Now the ambulance service is going to spend another £8.5m of taxpayers' money in an attempt to improve the overall speed of service.

It is right that this money is spent, particularly as we go into the depths of winter, when more road accidents can be expected and more elderly people will face serious health problems. In this time of financial restraint, however, taxpayers are entitled to ask what changes are going to be made to ensure their cash is used wisely.

Martyn Pritchard, chief executive of Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, may well have diagnosed the problems but that doesn't mean a cure follows instantly. The primary care trusts which are providing the extra money must supervise Mr Pritchard and his control room managers closely to guarantee the service actually does improve.

For once, it really is a matter of life and death.