The Welsh Ambulance Service has declared a “critical incident” because of significantly increased demand across the 999 service and extensive handover delays. It comes after several Welsh health boards have reintroduced the use of masks for staff and visitors and restricted visiting because of an increasing number of flu cases.
On Monday, December 30, Swansea Bay University Health Board said there are 20 wards with inpatients with influenza, with 53 confirmed cases and 93 exposed contacts.
The ambulance service, which covers three million-plus people across Wales, said more than 340 calls were waiting to be answered at the time the critical incident was declared on Monday evening. Join our WhatsApp news community here for the latest breaking news. You will receive updates from us daily.
Here is everything we know:
More than 90 ambulances waiting outside hospitals
More than half of the Trust’s ambulances were also waiting to hand over patients outside hospitals on Monday evening, leading to some people waiting “many hours” for an ambulance and staff taking longer to answer calls.
The service has urged the public to call 999 only for serious emergencies. The Trust said it has taken additional measures to ensure it can continue to deliver a service to the public.
Stephen Sheldon, head of service, said: “With significant demand on our service and more than 90 ambulances waiting to hand over patients outside of hospital, our ability to help patients has been impacted.
“Regrettably, this means that some patients will wait longer for an ambulance to arrive and for their calls to be answered. For that, we are very sorry because this is not the level of service we want to provide.” Get the latest Welsh headlines delivered free to your email inbox
Rare to declare a critical incident
The ambulance boss said that it was “very rare” that we declare a critical incident.. A critical incident was also declared in December 2020, due to high demand, particularly in south east Wales. An incident was also declared in 2023 after an ambulance spent more than 28 hours outside a hospital.
Mr Sheldon said: “We understand that this is frustrating for patients, but can assure them that we are doing everything we can to relieve the pressure on our service.”
When they do call a critical incident, it means that they can call in extra help from other areas. They are also asking for help from members of the public.
It is not just Welsh services under pressure. On Monday. an English NHS Trust declared a critical incident due to the number of people needing urgent and emergency hospital care.
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, which operates Walsall Manor Hospital, said it was seeing increased numbers of people requiring hospital treatment The trust’s chief operating officer said this was predominantly people with respiratory conditions.
On Christmas Eve, the Scottish ambulance services were put on the highest alert due to an increase in respiratory illnesses.
What will it mean for New Year’s Eve
It is traditionally one of the busiest nights of the year for the ambulance service and NHS hospitals too.
Mr Sheldon has outlined how members of the public can help. He said: “The public can help by only calling 999 in the event of a life-threatening emergency – that’s a cardiac arrest, chest pain or breathing difficulties, loss of consciousness, choking or catastrophic bleeding.
“If it’s not a life-threatening emergency, then it’s important you use one of the many alternatives to 999, starting with the symptom checkers on our NHS 111 Wales website as well as your GP, pharmacist and minor injuries unit.We must protect our precious resources for those who need them the most.
“Our staff and volunteers are doing a brilliant job under difficult circumstances, and we cannot thank them enough for their hard work during these very challenging times across the health service.”
Why are ambulances having to wait so long
In winter, there are normally extra pressures but the number of people being treated in Welsh hospitals The risk of acquiring flu is high as case numbers are increasing across Wales. In Swansea Bay University Health Board alone, there are 20 wards with inpatients with influenza, with 53 confirmed cases and 93 exposed contacts. Read more about that here.
These figures from December 22 show just how sharp the increase in flu cases in hospitals has been in Wales:
(Image: NHS Wales)
(Image: NHS Wales)
The Swansea health board are the latest health board to reintroduce the use of masks and restrict hospital visiting. Last week, four health boards did the same. Hywel Dda Health Board are asking visitors to Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli to wear face masks, while Cardiff and Vale University, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University and Aneurin Bevan Health Boards are asking visitors to wear masks at all their sites. You can read more about this here.