A 69-YEAR-OLD from Milford Haven who suffers from COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) described by her daughter as being ‘unresponsive’ waited over two hours for an ambulance – despite it being urgently ordered by her GP on Tuesday (Nov 19)

Once finally at the hospital, the daughter said, the full scale of the crisis gripping Withybush’s A&E department became apparent – with her mum waiting five hours in an ambulance.

The daughter who does not want to be identified said: “According to a paramedic in the A&E car park, the hospital was so busy that every available ambulance in the Pembrokeshire area was waiting to unload patients, and the ambulance service was only able to respond to Code Red calls.
“One person, the paramedic said, had already passed away that day because he could not get help in time. The paramedic told me that he dreaded the start of each shift, thinking that it was going to be yet another 12 hours of hell.”
“We were well over five hours waiting to get into the hospital – at one point my mum was taken from the ambulance for a chest x-ray only to be returned back to the ambulance after coming back from radiology.
“Once we got into A&E it was utter chaos, people everywhere. I saw seven people or more being treated in communal areas – I saw patients being seen in the hallways to have IV cannulars taken out after bloods.

The woman’s partner confirmed her story, adding that he thought what was going on at the hospital was “unbelievable”.

But after the two hour wait for help, and the five hours in in the back of an ambulance, the worst was not over.

Nurses at that A&E got the patient mixed up with someone else.

Our source said: “My mum is on warfarin, so I found it strange that she had been put on a drip. I asked what was going on, and said my mum’s name and that’s when two nurses look at each other and realised that my mum wasn’t who they thought she was. This was just before they were about stick something in her through a drip.

“A bag was already hooked up… she had no arm band – as soon as they knew it was the wrong patient they took the bag off the drip stand.

“It was definitely a near miss.”

The Health Board has been asked for a comment.

Our report comes just months after the Community Health Council said that more must be done to reduce waiting times at Withybush A&E.
Community Health Council members carried out an unannounced visit over the summer.

A report to the Pembrokeshire locality CHC on August 7 showed an increase in the number of 12 hour breaches – with some staying overnight at the unit – at Withybush A&E since October 2017, with it topping 450 cases in February this year.

Speaking a few months back, Hospital manager Janice Cole-Williams added that there had been increases in the stays in hospital which impacted in the wait for beds from A&E and staff were looking for solutions.

Deputy chief officer of Pembrokeshire CHC Helen Williams said that the report due on the A&E visit, which is yet to be signed off by the executive members, would recommend opening the discharge lounge at the weekend and keeping ambulatory care open seven days a week.

Ms Williams said it would depend on funds and there may be resistance to working weekends but in the “21st Century things don’t shut at 7pm on a Friday night.
“My opinion, not the CHC’s, but I think it should be operational full on 24/7.”

Another recommendation was to improve communication with patients about the length of wait expected and why there may be delays.

“If you keep patients informed, they recognise that the people behind the scenes are busy, it’s the not knowing when they will be seen.”

Local Assembly Member Paul Davies has expressed his disappointment to The Herald that Hywel Dda University Health Board has failed to meet the Welsh Government’s A and E targets.

In October, he said, 81.1% of patients were admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours in urgent care departments. The target to be seen within four hours is 95 percent.

Mr Davies said, “It’s extremely disappointing to see that a significant number of patients living within the Hywel Dda health board region are not being seen within a four hour window. Despite the efforts of our outstanding NHS staff, the management of the health board is presiding over a shortfall in the number of patients being seen within four hours. We must remember that those attending an accident and emergency department are there to receive care as soon as possible and any delays could have severe repercussions on that patient’s health. Therefore, efforts must be redoubled by the health board and the Welsh Government to turn these figures around as soon as possible.”