The Welsh Ambulance Service has declared a “very rare” critical incident because of significantly increased demand across the 999 service and almost 100 ambulances waiting to hand over patients outside hospitals.
More than 340 calls were waiting to be answered across Wales at the time the critical incident was declared by the Welsh Ambulance Services University NHS Trust on Monday night.
Alongside the high demand on the 999 service, more than half of the Trust’s ambulances were waiting to hand over patients outside hospitals, leading to ongoing delays of many hours for patients needing a vehicle.
The Trust said it has taken additional measures to continue delivering a service and alleviate the pressure – and it urged the public to only call 999 in a life-threatening emergency.
Head of Service Stephen Sheldon said: “It is very rare that we declare a critical incident, but with significant demand on our service and more than 90 ambulances waiting to hand over patients outside of hospital, our ability to help patients has been impacted.
“Regrettably, this means that some patients will wait longer for an ambulance to arrive and for their calls to be answered. For that, we are very sorry because this is not the level of service we want to provide.
“The public can help by only calling 999 in the event of a life-threatening emergency – that’s a cardiac arrest, chest pain or breathing difficulties, loss of consciousness, choking, or catastrophic bleeding.
“Our staff and volunteers are doing a brilliant job under difficult circumstances, and we cannot thank them enough for their hard work during these very challenging times across the health service.”
In a non-life-threatening emergency, patients are advised to use the symptom checkers on the NHS 111 Wales website, or to contact their GP, pharmacist or Minor Injuries Unit.
