Every single A&E department in Wales is failing to meet 'safe' consultant staffing levels, new figures have revealed. According to Freedom of Information requests made to Wales' health boards by the Welsh Conservatives, all its major hospitals are falling well short of the recommended ‘baseline’ for staffing levels in emergency departments.
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) sets a 'baseline' for the number of WTE (working-time equivalent) consultants which should be employed in the department to guarantee safe cover. At present no hospital is close to meeting this baseline in Wales, placing patients in potential danger.
The most understaffed A&E units were in the Hywel Dda University Health Board area, which serves Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, with its three major hospitals recording an average staffing level of 36% of the recommended baseline. Aberystwyth's Bronglais Hospital only had one consultant when they should have eight.
It was closely followed by Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB’s figure of 38%. The two health boards had Wales’ five worst-staffed hospitals between them, as all had fewer than half of the necessary staff.
Despite being the best-performing hospital, the University of Wales Hospital in Cardiff was still nine people short. Some responses yielded more information: funding for A&E consultants in all three of North Wales’ Betsi Cadwaladr health board fell short of the baseline.
The data for April coincided with NHS Wales’ third worst A&E and ambulance waits on record, while the NHS waiting list currently stands at over 700,000 people – one in five people – with over 70,000 people waiting over two years. You can read more about that here.
Commenting, Welsh Conservative and Shadow Health Minister Russell George MS said: "It is appalling that patients are waiting record lengths to be seen in A&E as it is, but when that is mixed with dangerous levels of staffing, then the Labour Government must explain why lives are being put at risk and why health boards aren’t even putting aside the funds for more.
"Of course, Labour had the chance to prevent this with safe staffing legislation months ago but, as usual, they rejected our sensible and much desired proposals out of spite.
"The Welsh Conservatives defend the people of Wales day in, day out as we highlight poor public service delivery and put forward solutions – when Labour accuse us of not being Welsh enough, they do so to disguise their own shortcomings after a quarter of century in power.
“Labour need to introduce safe staffing levels for A&E consultants, get a grip on the NHS, and stop breaking all the wrong records.”
The Welsh Conservatives previously called for safe consultant staffing levels during the passage of the Health and Social Care (Quality and Engagement) Act, as did the British Medical Association, and committed to support patients with a new Patient Safety Commissioner in its last manifesto.
The number of consultants available to staff A&E departments in the first full week of April 2022, and how they compare to the recommended RCEM baseline:
Ysbyty Gwynedd
Recommended WTE baseline: 13.7
Available WTE: 9.4
Available baseline percentage: 69%
Ysbyty Glan Clwyd
Recommended WTE baseline: 15.75
Available WTE: 9.4
Available baseline percentage: 60%
Wrexham Maelor
Recommended WTE baseline: 15.45
Available WTE: 7.7
Available baseline percentage: 50%
Glangwili Hospital
Recommended WTE baseline: 8.9
Available WTE: 5.68
Available baseline percentage: 64%
Bronglais Hospital
Recommended WTE baseline: 8
Available WTE: 1
Available baseline percentage: 13%
Withybush Hospital
Recommended WTE baseline: 10.2
Available WTE: 3.1
Available baseline percentage: 30%
Morriston Hospital
Recommended WTE baseline: 24
Available WTE: 13.4
Available baseline percentage: 56%
Prince Charles Hospital
Recommended WTE baseline: 16
Available WTE: 7.7
Available baseline percentage: 48%
Royal Glamorgan Hospital
Recommended WTE baseline: 18
Available WTE: 4.6
Available baseline percentage: 26%
Princess of Wales Hospital
Recommended WTE baseline: 18
Available WTE: 7.5
Available baseline percentage: 41%
The Grange University Hospital
Recommended WTE baseline: 41
Available WTE: 21.75
Available baseline percentage: 53%
University Hospital of Wales
Recommended WTE baseline: 30
Available WTE: 21.5
Available baseline percentage: 72%
Last year the Welsh Government announced record levels of more than £260m for training healthcare professionals in Wales. It said the investment for 2022/23, which is a 15% increase from 2021/22, will see the highest ever number of training opportunities in Wales. It will be the eighth consecutive year funding to support health professional education and training in Wales will increase.
In response, a Welsh Government spokesperson said: "Staff illness and Covid-related absences have had a significant impact on staffing levels in recent months, but we are committed to ensuring health boards across Wales have sufficient numbers of staff in their emergency departments to deliver safe care for people in their communities.
"As part of the Six Goals for Urgent and Emergency Care programme, we are supporting the NHS to make improvements to the way it provides services – including increasing staffing in crucial areas to help people access services as close to home as possible. We have already announced an additional £25m annual funding for this programme, including £20m this year to increase capacity in urgent primary care and same-day emergency care.
"We hugely value all our NHS workers and continue to work with unions and employers to ensure staff are well supported, both in work and if they need to be absent from work due to sickness."
