Accident and Emergency Departments

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:34 pm on 23 March 2022.

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Photo of Adam Price Adam Price Plaid Cymru 2:34, 23 March 2022

(Translated)

We're all aware, of course, of the huge pressures on our health service at the moment, but it strikes me that a situation that was already bad before the pandemic is now critical. I've had cases recently of one constituent having to wait in an ambulance for 10 hours outside Glangwili, another family, from Brynaman, having to wait seven hours for their child to see a doctor, and waiting for five hours is commonplace now. And we must bear in mind that, because of the geography of the area, people very often will have waited a very long time for an ambulance to arrive and then will have had to travel long distances to Glangwili in the first instance. 

And, of course, we are aware that this is a problem across Wales at the moment. I'm looking at A&E live, and you have to wait up to nine hours in Wrexham Maelor and up to eight hours in Prince Charles Hospital. The first step in solving such a crisis, Minister, is to recognise that there is a crisis. Are you willing to accept that there is a crisis in terms of the ambulance service in Wales at the moment?