Ambulances waiting two hours on average outside A&E

Ambulances person been waiting astir 2 hours connected mean to manus implicit patients extracurricular Welsh hospitals, caller figures reveal.

The data, gathered by BBC Wales done a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, besides shows 23,334 ambulances spent astatine slightest 4 hours waiting to manus implicit patients extracurricular A&E past year.

Meanwhile astir 73,000 ambulances were waiting astatine slightest an hr - an summation of 18% connected 2023 and the highest yearly fig connected record.

The Welsh Ambulance Trust said the handover delays were a grounds of "sustained and well-documented pressures crossed the full NHS successful Wales" and it was "thinking precise differently" astir delivering aboriginal services.

There were much than 6,500 ambulances successful December unsocial which spent astatine slightest an hr extracurricular A&E successful Wales, the 2nd highest fig connected record.

A "very rare" critical incidental was declared by the ambulance work connected 30 December – erstwhile much than fractional its vehicles were waiting extracurricular A&E to manus implicit patients.

At the time, its main enforcement said that this was impacting the service's quality to respond to 999 calls.

In these instances, ambulance crews person to enactment wrong the conveyance with the diligent due to the fact that the exigency portion has not got the country to bring them successful safely.

Official figures, which measurement however galore hours are "lost" supra the 15-minute people for handing implicit patients, saw the full deed much than 25,000 hours successful December.

The caller figures amusement the mean handover hold for December was much than 2 hours - and it was much than three-and-a-quarter hours wrong the Swansea Bay wellness board.

In 2024 overall, Swansea Bay – wherever the large exigency portion is Morriston Hospital – had mean waits of much than 3 hours and 9 minutes.

Meanwhile, successful the Cardiff and Vale wellness board, the handover clip astatine the University Hospital of Wales successful Cardiff was little than 45 minutes.

Swansea Bay wellness committee said it was "disappointed" by the latest figures arsenic it felt efforts implicit the past twelvemonth had seen it making inroads into the occupation of ambulances waiting extracurricular its exigency department.

It said this was backed up by caller NHS show figures, which showed the wellness committee successful the 2nd champion presumption implicit "lost hours" successful December, arsenic good arsenic delays implicit 1 hour.

"That said, we judge that patients are inactive waiting excessively agelong connected ambulances and we apologise for that," it said.

"We are perpetually looking astatine however we tin negociate request for our services and unafraid improved travel done our hospitals.

"To bash truthful we request to discharge much patients promptly – thing we're perpetually moving connected with our section authorization partners."

Lee Brooks, enforcement manager of operations astatine the Welsh Ambulance Service, said handover delays person the knock-on effect of importantly reducing the fig of ambulances capable to respond to patients successful the community.

"We profoundly regret the interaction these delays person connected our patients and their families," helium said.

"This is not the modular of work we privation to provide, and we recognise that this is not what the nationalist expects of us.

"The clip it takes for a diligent to determination from the ambulance into an exigency section is not straight successful our control, truthful we are reasoning precise otherwise astir the mode we present services successful the future."

"We don't judge that much ambulances doing much of the aforesaid is the answer," Mr Brooks added.

"We are actively looking astatine what we tin bash to usage the skills of our radical otherwise to guarantee that patients get the close attraction oregon advice."

In December, 47.6% of instantly life-threatening "red" ambulance calls arrived wrong the eight-minute people time, the aforesaid arsenic the erstwhile month.

But the mean fig of reddish calls averaged 217 a time - the highest connected record.

Mr Brooks said the nationalist could assistance by utilizing the work appropriately and by lone calling 999 for superior and life-threatening emergencies.

The Welsh NHS Confederation, which represents wellness boards, said expanding ambulance handover delays were a "very disposable symptom" of a full strategy nether immense pressure.

"The ambulance work and NHS leaders are moving intimately to trim ambulance handover delays, stock bully signifier and dainty much radical successful the community," said Darren Hughes, its director.

"However, this is simply a full strategy issue. Social attraction plays a important relation successful supporting radical to stay autarkic for longer, preventing infirmary admissions and supporting faster, safer discharges home.

"The assemblage plays a captious relation successful enabling the NHS to present harmless and timely care."

He highlighted that "in immoderate hospitals 20% of beds are occupied by patients waiting to leave", adding that without addressing workforce issues the NHS would "continue to conflict to marque existent strides successful improving ambulance handover delays".