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.
