WELSH Liberal Democrats have called on Labour to “get a grip” on the crisis in the Welsh NHS and to restore army support for the Welsh Ambulance Service, after reports that a Colwyn Bay man waited more than 10 hours for an ambulance.

The case of Emlyn Roberts, who fell and broke both his hip and back, comes at the same time a number of health boards in Wales are struggling to cope.

Aneurin Bevan has declared a black alert, while both Heath Hospital and the University Hospital Llandough sites in Cardiff have declared level “red”, and HywelDda announced it was dealing with extraordinary pressure.

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Welsh Liberal Dems leader, Jane Dodds MS, said: “The situation faced by this gentleman is utterly unacceptable. But sadly, it is not proving uncommon in Wales right now.

“The Labour Government are utterly failing to get to grips with the crisis in the Welsh NHS, especially in emergency services.

“In the last few days alone, a number of health boards have struggled to cope with the demand.

“While COVID has undoubtedly resulted in extra pressure, the situation had been deteriorating long before COVID.

“The Welsh Liberal Democrats have been consistently pressuring the Government on poor emergency response times throughout the last few months.

“I have also expressed my concern over the decision by the Welsh Government to withdraw army support from the Welsh Ambulance service, one that we think has been taken too soon.

“It is clear Labour needs to put more money into local health services, not least in GPs.

“If we are to tackle this problem, we need services returned to local communities where they can act as a firewall for emergency departments, helping prevent these sort of crisis points.”

Sonia Thompson, the Welsh Ambulance Service’s director of operations for the emergency medical service, said: “There has been very high demand for our services this week, and this – coupled with the pressures across the entire urgent care system, including extensive hospital handover delays – has meant that some patients have waited much longer for our help, sometimes many hours.

“Regrettably, Mr Roberts was among those patients and we are deeply sorry for what will have been a distressing experience for all involved.

“We are actively engaged with colleagues across the health system to help improve flow so that ambulances can be released from emergency departments – being rendered unable to respond to the community in a timely way is frustrating for us as it is for patients.

“In the meantime, the public can help by using our services appropriately – if it's not a serious or life-threatening emergency, the first port of call should be the NHS 111 Wales website for advice, or local GP, pharmacist or Minor Injuries Unit.

“We would welcome contact should the family wish to explore our response further.”