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Avoid A&E unless necessary warn health chiefs

Hospital chiefs are urging people to use minor injury units instead of A&E departments unless seriously ill. It comes after Morriston and the Princess of Wales hospitals came under pressure over Christmas.

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Welsh NHS gets extra £40 million for winter pressures

The Welsh Government is giving the NHS an extra £40 million to help it cope with winter pressures on the service. It's equivalent to the £700 million that the UK Government has given to NHS England. The announcement follows a period of sustained pressure over the Christmas and New Year period.

  • GP out-of-hour services had their busiest festive period ever
  • The Welsh Ambulance Service experienced unprecedented demand
  • Hospital emergency departments reported an increase in patients with acute conditions, complex needs and dependency.

This additional investment in our health service will help our NHS deal with the significant pressures the service is facing – pressures that are being experienced across the UK as a result of increased demand from an influx of sick patients. Winter is a very busy period for our health, social care and social services – but our urgent and emergency care services, in particular, are seeing significant extra demand on their services.

I want to thank staff who are working tirelessly, often in difficult situations, to ensure that those people who have needed urgent and emergency care have received high-quality treatment and services and have been treated with care and compassion.

– Health Minister Mark Drakeford AM

Deputy Health Minister Vaughan Gething has appealed to the public to consider whether they need to go to A&E when they are injured or unwell. He said people should ask themselves if another local health service can help or if they can look after themselves with advice from NHS Direct.

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Avoid A&E unless necessary warn health chiefs

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