Welsh Ambulance Service declares 'critical incident' amid New Year's Eve warning
Issa Farfour reporting.
The Welsh Ambulance Service has declared a "critical incident" because of significantly increased demand across the 999 service and extensive handover delays.
The service says more than 340 calls were waiting to be answered at the time the critical incident was declared on the evening of Monday, 30 December, while more than half of the trust’s ambulances were waiting to hand over patients outside hospitals, leading to some people waiting “many hours” for an ambulance.
The under-pressure service has now urged New Year’s Eve revellers to drink in moderation to help reduce demand on resources.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, chief executive Jason Killens said: "People out celebrating can help us tonight by of course, having a good time, but drinking sensibly, eating before they go out and looking after their friends."
The service has urged the public to call 999 only for serious emergencies.
“I want to apologise to patients who waited too long yesterday (Monday) and continue to wait this morning,” Mr Killens said.
Asked about the cause of the increased demand, he said: “This pressure across the health system is a result of flu and Covid and other respiratory viruses circulating through the winter.
“What we have seen in the last 24 to 48 hours is an acute accumulation of those pressures.”
Speaking on Monday, head of service Stephen Sheldon said: "It is very rare that we declare a critical incident, but 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.
"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.
"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."
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