The Welsh ambulance service has stood down its critical incident following a plea from its CEO to prevent demand from increasing. This came after a 340-call backlog on Monday which resulted in long wait times for patients trying to book an ambulance. The CEO explained that this was a very rare situation and urged the public to make sure they use the service wisely. The ambulance service does still face significant pressures and the public is being asked to help protect the resources available for those who need it the most.
The assistant director of operations also mentioned that although the critical incident is behind them, people must still only call 999 in a life-threatening emergency and consider other resources such as NHS 111 Wales symptom checkers, local pharmacists, minor injuries units, or GPs. She also asked those who are under the weather, to self-care at home, as well as take extra care to avoid accidents on the roads, especially with high winds and heavy rain following yellow weather warnings.
Health boards such as Cwm Taf Morgannwg, Hywel Dda, Aneurin Bevan, and Cardiff and Vale have recently announced new mask-wearing measures due to high pressure on resources. These health boards have seen high demand leading up to the winter period. This is not the first time a critical incident has been declared, with high demands especially in south Wales where this occurred in December of last year. There was also an extraordinary incident that occurred in 2023 where an ambulance took over 28 hours outside a hospital.
The Welsh government has reminded the public that emergency care services across Wales have an extremely high demand this winter period and to plan ahead. The public has been asked to carefully consider where to go for medical care to help ease the demand on the already-stressed system
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