‘Limited headroom’ in Welsh NHS – with ‘exceptionally busy’ local emergency department

Wales’ first minister has said there is “limited headroom” in the NHS to deal with any future wave of coronavirus as the service continues to tackle a backlog and increased demand.

Numbers of people being treated for coronavirus in Welsh hospitals are at the “lowest since the start of the pandemic.”

However locally we have seen warnings of “extremely busy” periods at the local hospital and others in North Wales, with one reader explaining they had been told of an ‘eight hour delay’ for an ambulance, and due to the nature of the call they were advised to stay away from Wrexham’s hospital as it was not a critical call.

Others have reported a several hour wait at the emergency department, with another sadly documenting the wait along with ‘abuse’:

7+ hour wait in A&e last night it was absolutely packed in waiting room and staff were amazing and didn’t deserve the verbal abuse about wait times!! If you are well enough to moan go home!!! @wrexham

— Natalie Andrews (@NatAndrews86) June 4, 2021

At Friday’s Welsh Government briefing we noted the local issues to First Minister Mark Drakeford and asked if he was confident the NHS could cope with even a slight increase in Covid-19 related hospitalisations, as it appears under significant pressure even with low case and other rates.

Mr Drakeford said: “We also have the lowest number of people in hospital in Wales suffering from Coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.

“But this certainly does not mean that the health service in Wales isn’t very busy.

“It’s extremely busy responding to all the other health problems and the health emergencies people have, and in catching up on work that has had to be postponed during the pandemic.”

He continued: “It is part of our caution here that the health service as I said, has gone from being flat out dealing with Coronavirus to now being flat out dealing with everything else that it needs to deal with.

“The headroom in the health service to deal with a significant rise in coronavirus cases is pretty limited and would result in further slowdowns of non-coronavirus work just as the health service is trying to get back to dealing with some people whose treatment has already been delayed.

“So, that calculation is very much in our minds and it’s part of the reason why we’ve decided to wait two weeks before reopening indoor activities at level one. I think anybody listening would understand that the people working at the frontline of our health service have had the most torrid time. They are exhausted in many ways and we have to think very carefully about what we are able to expect of them in the future.

Ian Donnelly, Acute Site Director of Wrexham Maelor Hospital, told us: “The past few weeks have been exceptionally busy for our Emergency Department, resulting in longer waiting times than usual, despite the best efforts of our nursing and medical staff.

“Patients are always prioritised according to their clinical need and monitored throughout their time in our Emergency Department, which is still operating under reduced capacity given the changes we have had to make as a result of COVID-19.

“Patients who do not need full emergency hospital treatment may find that they can get appropriate advice and care from other NHS services, including our minor injuries units and local pharmacies. Please visit the BCUHB website or contact NHS Direct Wales on 0845 46 47 if you’re unsure of where to go.”