A plea to only call 999 in a life-threatening emergency

The Welsh Ambulance Service is experiencing exceptionally high demand across its 999 and 111 services.

Pressure on the service has remained high throughout the week, which was compounded this morning by a technical issue that affected some 111 calls. Despite measures taken to manage the impact, we have been unable to stem this demand.

More than 2,000 emergency 999 calls were taken by 19:30 today, 17 December, while NHS 111 Wales received over 7,000 calls.

To put these numbers into perspective, NHS 111 Wales had 50 call handlers on duty, and pan-Wales there were 137 conveyancing vehicles on the road; except 36% of this resource were stuck outside emergency departments.

As a result, some patients have waited, and regrettably continue to wait for many hours for an ambulance (999) or a call-back from a clinician (111).

Assistant Director of Operations Sonia Thompson said: “Extreme weather, coupled with a high call volume which are mostly reporting falls and breathing issues, has limited our capacity to respond safely and timely.

“We are sorry to everyone who has waited longer for their calls to be answered, and subsequently wait longer for an ambulance to arrive.

“Tonight, we are asking the public to please stay safe, take steps to avoid accidents like wearing appropriate shoes and clothing, and to look after one-another.

“It is not unusual in circumstances like these that we may ask some patients to make their own way to hospital, therefore please consider all your options and ensure you have support.

“As always, please only call 999 in a life-threatening emergency – that’s a cardiac arrest, chest pain or breathing difficulties, loss of consciousness, choking, or catastrophic bleeding.

“If the situation is not a life-threatening emergency, then it’s important that you use one of the many alternatives to 999, starting with the symptom checkers on our NHS 111 Wales website as well as your GP, pharmacist and Minor Injuries Unit.”

Editor’s Notes

For more information, please call our Press Office on 01745 532511, or email was.communications@wales.nhs.uk.