Welsh ambulance service fears hospital delays could hamper response to terror attacks

A number of failures on the part of the emergency services in the aftermath of the attack were pointed out.

The warning follows claims by the service that some paramedics were unable to respond to an explosion at the Treforest industrial estate in Rhondda Cynon Taf in December 2023 because they were stranded outside Morriston Hospital in Swansea.

A report will be presented to the Emergency Services Committee next week alleging that hospital management failed to dispatch emergency crews from the hospital premises.

Swansea Bay University Health Department denied this, saying ambulances had been released.

The emergency services have questioned the effectiveness of the release procedures.

Managing Director Jason Killens has written to Welsh health authorities asking for assurances.

The rescue report said that if a major incident were reported, there was a risk that an “effective, timely or safe response” could not be made.

“(This would result in) catastrophic harm (deaths) and a breach of the trust’s legal obligations,” it said.

The main reason for this was “capacity losses due to delays in handover to hospitals,” over which the company had no influence.

It further stated that there was no guarantee that hospitals had plans in place to effectively provide ambulances.

Lee Brooks, head of operations for the Welsh Ambulance Service, said plans were in place to respond effectively to major incidents.

He recognized that delays in delivery were a problem.

“Our ability to launch large-scale relief efforts in the event of an incident can be compromised if our people and vehicles are not immediately released by emergency services,” Brooks said.

The report also highlighted two other cases in which the service was concerned about unauthorised ambulances.

These included a fire on a ferry off Fishguard Dock in February 2023 and a gas explosion in Swansea the following month.

Swansea Bay Health Board said it takes its responsibilities seriously and has emergency plans in place.

“This includes agreed protocols that allow for rapid release of ambulances from the emergency department in the event of a serious incident being reported,” it says.

“We can confirm that on the evening of the fire at the Treforest Industrial Estate, our major incident response plan was activated and that we did indeed send ambulances.”

Delays in the handover were raised in the Senedd last week after the Health Committee was told that paramedic crews often only care for one patient per shift.

According to Mr Killens, up to 30,000 hours were lost each month in Wales waiting for patients to be transferred to hospital.

Patient safety is at risk, he said, because handover times average more than two hours. The target is 15 minutes.

The Welsh Government said it expects health authorities to make reducing delays in patient handover a priority over the next six months.

The company said an additional £180 million would be invested this year to help health boards and regional partnership bodies provide care to more people in the community and avoid ambulance journeys and hospital admissions.