Ambulances seen queuing at A&E as demand surges
EMERGENCY ambulances have been stacking up outside hospitals as crews face a surge in demand not seen since March last year.
The Welsh Ambulance Service escalated its action plan to a level three response – out of four levels – after an incredibly busy weekend.
It meant several ambulances were forced to wait with patients inside for hours outside hospitals including the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff as paramedics and hospital workers dealt with the backlog.
In total, over the weekend there were more than 300 hours of hold-ups in ambulances across the service.
Level three of the Resource Escalation Action Plan (REAP) means senior managers are taken off normal duties to set up an incident control centre.
From there they try to “improve flow of intelligence and decision-making”, supporting medical staff with their clinical decisions and diverting patients to other treatments that don’t necessarily involve the emergency department.
On Monday, a decision was made to raise the level to three for the first time since March 2018.
Only a level four is higher, which indicates major incidents or significant pressure. That was also activated last March.
It followed an increase in activity throughout September, and a doubling in “red demands”, or 999 calls, compared to the same Monday last year.
According to Lee Brooks, the service’s director of operations, the reason it was triggered was “pressures that had increased over the weekend”.
The services had some challenges on Monday morning, and the level was increased to respond to those challenges, he said.
On Tuesday afternoon, the level remained at three for the whole of Wales but by yesterday it had fallen to a REAP level two.
Mr Brooks said the response did not mean leave was cancelled, but staff often offered to do overtime to meet demand, and community first responders increased their availability.
He advised anyone who needed emergency treatment to still call 999.
He said: “If you believe there is a medical clinical emergency the right thing to do is always ring 999.”
But, he said, patients should not be surprised if they heard back from a doctor or paramedic who might want to talk a bit longer on the phone to fully understand the situation.
It might be possible to explore other options, such as phoning NHS Direct or contacting the non-urgent helpline 111, or speaking to pharmacists or GPs.
He added: “Whilst we are in this particular level of our escalation plan we are constantly in dialogue with health boards in terms of alternative pathways for clinical activity.” But, he stressed: “We are a clinical service, not a taxi service.”
Mr Brooks’ comments come after an ambulance worker claimed there were bottlenecks of ambulances outside hospitals in South Wales.
At least five ambulances were spotted queuing up outside the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff on Tuesday. A day earlier, there had been seven ambulances stacked outside Morriston Hospital in Swansea, with several waiting outside Glangwili in Carmarthen.