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.
