Critical care units overcrowded says annual report
Some critical care units in Wales have too many patients on them, according to a report out today.
The Together for Health paper, published by the Welsh Government, shows the pressure being put on services for the critically ill.
In January 2015, bed occupancy was as high as 107% - significantly above the recommended levels of 65 - 70% set out by the Intensive Care Society.
The report also highlighted delays in discharging patients from critical care. In the year 2014-15, 66% of patients were delayed by over four hours. This affected 4,000 patients.
It is recommended that more is done to make efficient use of critical bed capacity across Wales in order to best meet the demands on services.
While there are improvements to be made, the report does also highlight some positives in areas such as survival rates and readmissions.
In 2015-16, 83% of patients were discharged alive, increasing from 79% in 2011-12.
Less than 1% of patients were readmitted to critical care within 48 hours of discharge between January - March 2016.
The chief executive of the NHS in Wales, Dr Andrew Goodall, accepts that providing critical care in Wales in 'challenging' but that he is encouraged to see areas of improvement.
Research also carried out into how those working in critical care are coping showed that staff are already experiencing "added stresses and uncertainty of working in critical care at a time where demand is not being met with increased provision."