“Surge Of Patients” Create ’16 Hour Wait’ At Wrexham Maelor A&E

Last night saw a ‘high demand’ at Wrexham Hospital, with a 16 hour wait time being announced at one point to around fifty people waiting to be seen.

Further to a tweet last night from a local businessman that cited a 16 hour wait from just before 10pm (below) another person got in touch to say: “We called 999 to receive a call back to say no ambulances were available. Luckily we live close to the A&E department.”

“On arrival we could see lots of ambulances and in the waiting area hardly a spare seat. The nurse informed the waiting room of a 16 hour wait. Lots of moans and groans. Some people saying ‘we have already been here 9 hours’. I would say that 60% of the people waiting left once they heard of the wait.”

They added: “The staff as always were exceptional and particularly the triage nurse who looked after my wife and rushed her through. The doctors and nurses are under pressure to meet demand and are doing their best to cope with the increased demand.”

Currently 16 hour wait in @wrexham A&E @BCUHB

— Alex Jones (@alexmartinjones) May 15, 2017

A spokesperson for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board told us today: “We apologise for longer waiting times than usual at Wrexham Maelor Hospital’s emergency department yesterday evening.

“During this period we experienced a high demand in service and a surge of patients over a short period of time which led to longer than usual waits for treatment.

“We always prioritise the treatment of patients according to their clinical need. To ensure patient safety, prioritisation took place which ensured that patients who have a higher clinical risk were treated and moved into appropriate departments in a timely way.

“This means that, at times, some patients whose needs are less urgent can experience extended waits in our department, despite the best efforts of nursing and medical staff.

“Many 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, local pharmacists or by calling NHS Direct Wales on 0845 46 47.”

At the time of writing the queue is currently 57 strong, with a wait time of 3 hours stated:

Current longest waiting time at the Maelor is stated as 3 hrs 00 mins . There are 57 people in the queue.

— Maelor Wait/QTwitBot (@WrexMaelorBot) May 16, 2017

Pic: Archive shot of the Maelor.