Ambulance Waiting Times

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  • #151619

    wrexview
    Participant

    Twice recently people have tweeted on Wrexham.com about extremely long waiting times for an ambulance to arrive. What is causing this problem in mid summer with no pandemic in sight.

    #151632

    Matt
    Participant

    I always thought summer was notorious for accidents, especially in the hot weather. Idiots who usually keep themselves & others safe by sitting on the sofa watching TV or playing games the rest of the year threaten everyone’s lives with ambitions of drunken BBQ action (burns, food poisoning, gas canisters), utilising dangerous gardening tools, outdoor DIY, delusions of actual sporting prowess, everyone’s out falling off their bikes & other misdemeanours (tombstoning, poking wasps nests etc…). You add that to the usual seasonal issues like extreme allergies, heat stroke and elderly struggling with the weather. You’ve got a busy A&E.

    It’s basically every single episode of casualty rolled into one.

    #151648

    Hugh Bet
    Participant

    Crikey Matt, you have a wasp in your bonnet there!

    You forgot the World Cup/ Beer Garden fights, dehydrated zombies and the influx of foreigners moving to the area and placing more pressure on the NHS.

    The weather should break in time for the weekend so ambulance times are bound to shorten.

    #151947

    Liam
    Participant

    Go outside the Maelor and you’ll find the answer, a large number of ambulances were queued outside there this afternoon waiting to hand over patients in sweltering heat. If they can’t offload their current patient to the Emergency Department then they can’t move on the next. The blame doesn’t lie solely at the door of the ED though, where staff work their backsides off in distressing conditions. Cuts to social care funding and the closure of community hospital beds mean there is nowhere suitable for people to go, even when they no longer need a hospital bed. Unless funding is increased you will see this situation continue and potentially grow worse. The NHS doesn’t just experience winter pressures, they’re all year round now.

    Also, hot weather causes an increase in respiratory related conditions, as well as road accidents and incidents on the coast, at reservoirs etc.

    #151951

    wrexview
    Participant

    Are all available beds open in the Maelor, have they still got closed wards?

    #151966

    AMA Express
    Participant

    The only closed ward they had a couple of weeks ago was Pasteur, and that was just at weekends, as it’s used for day cases. That’s minor operations where a patient is admitted in the morning, operated on, and discharged before teatime.

    #151981

    zinger
    Participant

    Today I was in close proximity to a situation where upon a lady was having severe chest pains. A nearby first aider did his best to reassure the lady & her family. A 999 call put through to the ambulance service took 10 minutes to be answered. After giving what details he could, he was advised to call back if her condition deteriorated. He explained that it had taken 10 minutes to get the initial call through & was very concerned that a further 10 minutes wait might be too late. The phone call was terminated. 30 minutes later the ambulance service called back to check on the patients condition and that an ambulance had not yet been dispatched. He offered to take the lady to hospital in his car and was told that it was his own decision & would be his responsibility. An ambulance arrived about 5 minutes later. This incident took place within approximately 1 mile of the ambulance station.
    The NHS is not in danger – it is broken.

    #151987

    Liam
    Participant

    [quote quote=151981]Today I was in close proximity to a situation where upon a lady was having severe chest pains. A nearby first aider did his best to reassure the lady & her family. A 999 call put through to the ambulance service took 10 minutes to be answered. After giving what details he could, he was advised to call back if her condition deteriorated. He explained that it had taken 10 minutes to get the initial call through & was very concerned that a further 10 minutes wait might be too late. The phone call was terminated. 30 minutes later the ambulance service called back to check on the patients condition and that an ambulance had not yet been dispatched. He offered to take the lady to hospital in his car and was told that it was his own decision & would be his responsibility. An ambulance arrived about 5 minutes later. This incident took place within approximately 1 mile of the ambulance station.
    The NHS is not in danger – it is broken.[/quote]

    Does sound very concerning, but as a minor aside it’s worth noting that proximity to the ambulance station has no impact on response times. Crews only use them to start and finish shifts and will be out in the community or more likely stuck outside hospital at most times. You will rarely find staff sat in stations waiting for calls as they’re sent to stand by points on the rare occasions when it’s quiet.

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