Ambulance Response Times in Powys

Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:18 pm on 14 March 2018.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 2:18, 14 March 2018

Yes, I recognise the picture you're painting and the fact that, through this winter, we've had more people wait too long to receive a service, and I don't try to claim that that is acceptable at all. There's a challenge to understand what we need to do across our system to improve that, indeed including choices about capacity or not, but you highlight one of our challenges, which is lost hours and handover challenges in particular. Now, the guidance that has been given out in emergency departments actually looks to make sure that people are swiftly handed over from the ambulance into the emergency department, and there are challenges in different units around Wales about the ability to do so as rapidly as we see, for example, in Cwm Taf, which has always been—well, certainly in the last few winters—the exemplar of rapid handovers, and managing the risk within an emergency department rather than having an unmanaged risk within the community if ambulances are held up.

I recognise the distress for individual citizens and their families and also the frustration for staff. There is a programme of work going on within Wales about that. The clinical director for unscheduled care, Jo Mower, who is a consultant from the Heath, is looking to have that conversation with colleagues around the country about improving practice, but, of course, we now highlight the lost hours that are provided. It wasn't something that was initially put into the public domain. It is regularly, as a result of the new system we've introduced—. But your concern about Powys isn't a particular issue about Wrexham Maelor, because I have to say that the bulk of handover delays affecting Powys patients in the last two months are actually at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. There is a challenge in both Wrexham and Bronglais to be addressed, but the largest part of the challenge affecting your constituents is actually Shrewsbury.