Half of most critical 999 ambulance calls in North Wales meet latest response target
Handover delays at North Wales hospitals in May caused 7,454 lost hours for the ambulance service – equivalent to cutting 20 12-hour shifts.
Figures just released by the Welsh Ambulance Services University Trust (WAST) show the dramatic impact of admission delays at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) hospitals across the region.
Around 3,000 of those lost hours in May were caused by delays at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, with just under 2,600 lost at Ysbyty Gwynedd and 1,700 lost at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd.
According to the report, presented by WAST chief executive Jason Killens to Wrexham County Borough Council’s Safeguarding, Communities and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee, Wrexham Maelor Hospital alone had almost as many lost handover hours as the entire Hywel Dda University Health Board in West Wales.
The report also revealed only half of all immediately life threatening calls received by WAST across North Wales in May were responded to within eight minutes.
For less serious calls – which WAST says should be responded to within 18 minutes – the average response time in May was one hour 17 minutes.
WAST and BCUHB also reported 58 incidents in 2023/24 where harm had come to a patient that could have been avoided – often as a result of handover delays.
Dyffryn Ceiriog councillor Trevor Bates asked Mr Killens for an explanation: “We’re all wondering why are we the worst in Wales and what’s likely to happen to make us less likely to die?”
Mr Killens responded by highlighting changes in the emergency call allocation that came into force this month – including a new priority response stream for cardiac and respiratory arrest.
“We have started to see some very good improvements in recent weeks,” he said. “It’s fair to say that BCUHB hasn’t seen such a sharp an improvement as other sites yet.
“The Cabinet Secretary has been very clear in his expectation that by the end of October no handover will take more than 45 minutes which will be a significant improvement across North Wales.”
By Alec Doyle – Local Democracy Reporter
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