PATIENTS are stuck on a ‘roundabout from hell’ due to increasing pressures on health and emergency services, a doctor has said.

Rhos GP Dr Peter Saul said he found himself in a ‘shocking situation’ on Monday when he had to take a frail patient to hospital in his personal car after being told there were no ambulances available.

Dr Saul visited a patient at their home address and had requested an ambulance to transport him to hospital, which would usually take around four hours due to it not being a ‘critical emergency’.

However, on this occasion, he was told the patient would have to make their own way to hospital due to not having any vehicles available.

He told the Leader: “Booking an ambulance is a routine measure which usually takes about four hours for them to come and take the patient to hospital.

“On this occasion we were told there was no ambulance available and patients have to make their own way to hospital. In this particular case, this wasn’t an option.

“The patient was too poorly and they had no alternative options like family or friends nearby. I was left with no option to take him myself.

“This meant I was away from the practice for the best part of an hour which resulted in other delays as patients were kept waiting.

“It’s a shocking situation.”

Dr Saul, who is also a joint chair of the Royal College of GPs in Wales said this is not solely the ambulance service’s fault, this is a result of a system failure.

He added: “The system isn’t working. Ambulances can’t discharge patients at hospitals because A&E departments haven’t got the space.

“A&E Departments aren’t able to pass patients to the wards because there’s no space. There’s no space because wards have difficulty discharging patients because of the lack of social care support to help get people back in the community.

“It’s like a roundabout from hell which patients are stuck on. For a long time GPs have had difficulties in getting a timely response from the ambulance service for patient transport to hospital but this was the final straw.

“We need to do something about it. Covid has made things worse as the capacity of A&E departments has reduced due to the need of precautions, but this is a particular problem in Wales.

“I don’t hear colleagues from across the border complaining as much about what is happening. In England, if there are delays in handing over from ambulance to hospital, serious questions will be asked but I’m not convinced this is happening in Wales.

“There is little pressure on hospitals to help relieve this problem.”

Dr Saul said GP practices have remained open for patients needing the health of primary care services, but the public can play their part.

He said: “This was a sunny afternoon in early September with no flu, it was a weekday afternoon with no winter pressures. Heaven knows what the situation will be like in January.

“The public needs to play their part by avoiding busy A&E departments if they can to help ease pressures. Systems for advising patients such as NHS 111 need to improve their focus and not all too often by default tell people to go to A&E.

“They need to be better at helping people deal with their problems without attending A&E. Speaking as a GP we have always been open and pharmacies can often deal with minor ailments.

“I’ve taken patients to hospital before when clinically needed, but this has been the first time because of a failure on the ambulance service.

"Maybe the recent announcement for more money for the NHS will help, but we also need the investment to go to social care too so that people can be more easily discharged from hospital."