Covid-19: Welsh ambulance patient waits 19 hours outside hospital

A 73-year-old man has been waiting more than 19 hours in an ambulance outside a hospital following suspected sepsis or a stroke, his family has said.

Ted Edwards was at his home in Monmouthshire when paramedics were called at about 00:55 GMT, the Welsh Ambulance Service (WAS) confirmed.

He was still waiting outside Grange University Hospital at 20:30, leaving his family "really concerned".

Aneurin Bevan Health Board said Covid meant it faced "significant pressure".

The WAS said it was "facing high demand" across the country "with acute pressure" around Grange University Hospital leading to "some long delays with patients on our ambulances".

Poppy Vaughan Winter, from Bristol, said she was "really concerned" for her uncle's welfare and was waiting on an update on whether he had been admitted.

The 25-year-old said her aunt, who lives near Monmouth, has been calling "non-stop" for an update on her husband's condition.

"We've just been told his condition's not changed, but he is still waiting in the ambulance," Ms Vaughan Winter said.

The health board said the hospital was dealing with a "very high number of Covid patients" which has led to pressure on services.

It was "struggling to identify beds for our patients" and confirmed there were "a high number of ambulances waiting outside the hospital".

The average weekly Covid case rate in Wales is 430.1 per 100,000 and in Monmouthshire it was 327.7 per 100,000 in the past seven days.

Earlier it appealed to the public to only dial 999 "if absolutely necessary". It follows a critical incident declared by the WAS over high demand on 3 December.

Last month, the £350m Grange University Hospital in the Llanfrechfa area of Cwmbran became a major accident and emergency centre for almost 600,000 people in the old greater Gwent area.

A spokeswoman from the health board said the pressure on its hospitals were having a "significant impact on our staffing levels".

"This is a very serious situation and we are experiencing this demand on our services before we see the normal increase in demand as the result of cold weather and flu in the winter."

WAS gold commander Bob Tooby said: "We now have over 1,900 Covid 19 patients at hospitals across Wales.

"This has included some long delays with patients on our ambulances, but it would not be appropriate for the patients or indeed their families for us to provide the specific details at this time."

Mr Tooby said the service is appealing to the public to consider first seeking advice from 111 services and NHS Direct Wales "unless it is a serious life-threatening illness or traumatic injury".