There have been calls for the Welsh Government to apologise to patients, some of whom have recently had to wait in excess of 7 hours for an ambulance.
The calls came during National Assembly proceedings at both First Minister’s Questions and Health Questions, as both the Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew R.T. Davies AM and the Montgomeryshire AM, Russell George, raised the crisis in Welsh emergency services.
Earlier this month, a Welshpool resident was forced to wait for seven hours for an ambulance and there has been a significant increase in reports of worrying delays in the time it takes for an ambulance to arrive following a 999 call.
Speaking outside the chamber after questioning the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Mr George said:
“Ambulance staff work extremely hard in difficult circumstances to deliver the best possible care.
“Residents often speak of the outstanding support and service which they receive from paramedics and the ambulance service when they are in their care.
“That’s why it’s so sad to hear stories where people are forced to wait in pain for many hours.
“One constituent who fell over on the street in Newtown waited an hour and a half on a cold pavement for the ambulance to arrive. In that time, the constituent's situation seriously deteriorated. The ambulance trust confirmed that this was unacceptable, and pointed out to me that of the nine emergency vehicles available in the Powys locality at that time, seven were waiting outside hospitals to transfer patients to the care of hospital staff.
“Earlier this month, a Welshpool resident waited 7 hours for an ambulance, and this is a further issue I’ve taken up with the Ambulance Service.
"These incidents are unacceptable, and its distressing for the patient, those waiting with the patient, and indeed for the Ambulance staff.
“There is a widespread problem which highlights that hospital handover delays are impacting the Welsh Ambulance Service’s ability to respond to incoming emergency calls.
“There has to be something seriously wrong with the system when ambulances are queued up outside hospitals such as Wrexham Maelor waiting to handover patients and then the knock on effect is that other patients are forced to wait for an ambulance."