Hospitals services struggling with cold

HOSPITALS across Wales struggled to provide adequate staffing cover and were forced to cancel operations due to the heavy snow.

It is understood that routine procedures needed to be cancelled in some hospitals on Sunday and yesterday due to the additional pressures.

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board admitted the snow did affect some of its services.

A spokesman said: ““Some routine elective procedures were cancelled (on Monday) due to additional pressures as a result of the weather.”

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board issued a plea via social media on Sunday for off-duty nurses to work a shift at the University Hospital of Wales and University Hospital Llandough. Its chief operating officer Steve Curry said: “Cardiff and Vale UHB had a busy weekend in terms of unscheduled care. The health board continues to deploy its winter plan and measures are in place to ensure services continue to deliver for our patients.”

A spokesman for Powys Teaching Health Board said the cold and snowy conditions were continuing to have an impact on some health services, and in neighbouring hospitals serving the county’s residents.

The Welsh Ambulance Service’s Non-Emergency Transport Service (NEPTS) said dialysis patients were treated as a priority over the weekend.