During a briefing call with executive officers from Aneurin Bevan University Health Board on Friday, I raised the issue of poor ambulance response times. Although this is primarily a matter for the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust, the health board didn’t deny there are problems - with reported cases of ambulances having to queue outside emergency departments while they wait for bed space to open up. While I am in no way criticising individual paramedics and medical staff, who work very hard under tremendous pressure, the service is well short of where it ought to be and people in Monmouthshire are being let down. My concern was heightened after learning that a constituent and colleague, who recently suffered a heart attack, was told there was a two-hour wait for an ambulance. The response time target for life-threatening ‘red’ category 999 calls is eight minutes. In the end, her husband had to drive her to hospital. On top of this, there are two major issues.
Firstly, the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust has plans to cut the number of rapid response vehicles – termed a “national roster review” – at Monmouth and Chepstow ambulance stations. This would effectively half the fleet by leaving just one ambulance vehicle each. Monmouth MS Peter Fox and Monmouthshire County Council leader Richard John are meeting with the Trust shortly to discuss the situation as there are real fears lives will be put at risk if the two stations are downgraded. I have also asked the Trust to reconsider these plans, which would leave rural communities in particular extremely vulnerable.
The second issue is the fact the accident and emergency department at Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny has changed to a minor injury unit. Patients in north Monmouthshire with conditions that are serious and immediately life threatening now have to travel much further to The Grange University Hospital in Llanfrechfa, near Cwmbran. The health board has previously said it was not prepared to accept people who turned up as there is no ‘walk-in’ accident and emergency department. I have now been told people will be seen and assessed if they arrive by car or taxi and it is a serious incident. Obviously, this is important information and needs to be put out there. But I am totally appalled that heart attack or stroke victims potentially have to get themselves to hospital and cannot rely on an ambulance. It is a shocking failure by the Welsh Government and ministers in Cardiff Bay urgently need to get to grips with this crisis.
*Published in the Monmouthshire Beacon on 16 February 2022 and the Abergavenny Chronicle on 17 February 2022*