People are being asked not to attend a Welsh emergency department unless they have a life-threatening illness or injury. Morriston Hospital in Swansea issued the warning just days after saying its services were experiencing a "period of unprecedented pressure" over the bank holiday weekend.
In a message on Monday, January 2, Swansea Bay University Health Board said its A&E at Morriston "remains under extreme pressure" and that people should not attend unless they have a life-threatening illness or injury. It said it would treat the sickest patients first and that anyone with a minor injury or illness who attended would be waiting "a very long time to be seen."
NHS services have been under particular strain in recent weeks as ongoing pressure on services was compounded by the busy winter season and several days of industrial action which saw nurses and ambulance workers strike across the UK in December. On New Year's Eve Aneurin Bevan University Health Board urged people to only attend its emergency department "if absolutely necessary" amid "unprecedented demand" for its services. You can get more Swansea news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
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Swansea Bay UHB said its minor injury unit (MIU) at Neath Port Talbot Hospital was open until 11pm and that people were "likely to be seen far quicker [there] than at A&E in Morriston."
People with the following injuries or illnesses are asked not to go to Morriston A&E and to go to Neath Port Talbot Hospital instead:
- Cuts and minor burns
- Sprains and strains
- Broken bones
- Dislocation of the shoulder, fingers and toes
- Head injuries with no loss of consciousness and where the patient is not taking blood thinners (anticoagulants)
- Neck injuries, where you are mobile with no pins and needles in your arms
- Back injuries where you are mobile and the pain has not occurred from you twisting your back or lifting something
- Foreign bodies to eyes, ears and nose; non-penetrating eye and ear injuries
- Rib injuries where you are not coughing up blood and you don’t have a chest infection
- Bites (insect, animal or human)
- Insect stings
- Assaults
The MIU can treat patients over one-year-old but cannot treat illnesses such as Covid or flu, sore throats, chest pain, breathing problems or stroke. People are also asked to visit the 111 Wales website to check symptoms and for advice on common conditions including strep A and scarlet fever and advice on how to look after a sick child at home.
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