MORE evidence has emerged of ambulance ‘queuing’ at Wrexham Maelor Hospital.
A 79-year old woman said she had to wait five and a half hours to be seen.
Barbara Stiles, 79, from Bala arrived at the Maelor at about 6pm on Monday.
Shehad been taken there – about an hour’s journey from Bala, by ambulance – suffering from a chest infection.
“It was 11.30pm before anybody saw me,and 1pm before I got a bed,” she said. “It was a long night for me.”
She said the accident and emergency department was on red alert and while she was waiting in the hospital, she saw another a dozen ambulances form queue.
“It’s obviously not getting better,” she said.
The Leader reported yesterday that nine ambulances were queued outside the hospital at about 1.30pm on the same day but by 4.30pm that number had reduced by two-thirds.
A Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) spokesman said: “Although we cannot comment on individual cases, we are very sorry Mrs Stiles had to wait such a long time to be seen at the hospital. This is not the kind of service we want to provide for our patients.
“Doctors and nurses have been working very hard to cope with a significant rise in the number of seriously ill patients over the last few days.
“We have faced increased pressure on beds as patients need longer than normal to recover in hospital.
“Yesterday was an exceptional day for admissions to the Maelor Emergency Department and we are grateful to our staff for coping with such a high patient demand.
“We are working with the Welsh Ambulance Service and general practice to reduce admissions and to minimise delays at the A&E department wherever possible.
Additional beds have been opened and we have brought in additional staff to help the situation.
The spokesman added: “Our planned changes to community services, such as developing home enhanced care, will provide alternatives to hospital admission which do not currently exist and will therefore reduce pressure on emergency admissions and beds in both the acute and community hospitals.
“It is also important to remember that by choosing well for the right treatment, patients can help us free up emergency medical care for those facing life-threatening illnesses or injuries.”