Patients in one part of Wales are currently spending in excess of 30 hours in the back of ambulances waiting to be transferred into A&E, it has been revealed. An email sent to GP surgeries across Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board on Tuesday and forwarded to WalesOnline states that "significant acute site pressures" are leading to excessive waits for patients to be admitted into hospital.
One GP who was sent the email said they were "aghast" at how unsafe emergency services had become and described the 30-hour wait as "clearly dangerous". They added that such delays were having a huge knock-on effect on the ability of ambulance crews to reach distressed 999 patients in their communities.
It is understood a 'business continuity incident' was declared in Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB on Tuesday - the highest level of escalation, meaning there is more demand than capacity. It typically results in very large numbers of patients in A&E, lengthy ambulance delays and numbers of patients waiting for beds increasing significantly. More importantly, it means there is no immediate resolution that will get the system back into a positive position. The health board confirmed on social media that its three A&E departments in the region should be avoided unless the patient has an urgent or life-threatening illness or injury.
