Hospitals in west Wales are asking people to pick up sick loved ones if they are able to go home because they are “extremely busy”. Hywel Dda University Health Board made the urgent call on Tuesday due to “continuing high demand” and an influx of “many sick patients".
The health board, which manages healthcare in in Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, and Ceredigion, has been under increased pressure for some time and has appealed for the public’s help twice in the space of a few days. You can keep up to date with the latest Carmarthenshire news by signing up to the local newsletter here.
Just before Christmas health chiefs asked members of the public to stay away from the two major A&E departments in south west Wales – located at Carmarthen’s Glangwili Hospital and Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest – unless their condition was significantly serious or life-threatening. Now health bosses have reiterated that appeal and expanded on it by asking people to collect loved ones from hospitals if they are able to return home. A spokesman for the health board said: “Our hospitals continue to be extremely busy with many sick patients and continuing high demand for emergency and urgent care. This means patients are waiting longer than we would want them to.
