NHS Wales 'well prepared' for winter pressures

Welsh Health Secretary Vaughan Gething has said the NHS in Wales is as ‘well prepared as it can be’ to face the pressures of winter.

Speaking to the Assembly's Health Committee giving evidence to its inquiry into the NHS's readiness for the winter months, Gething assured that he was confident that the NHS is ’better prepared than last winter and the winter before’, but highlighted staffing levels and reducing delays in transferring or discharging patients as challenges likely to be faced.

The demand on the NHS is substantial throughout the year but services can face significant extra pressure in winter, often due to surges in demand from very sick patients. This is down to an older and increasingly frail and unwell population, the impact of colder, wetter weather, the prominence of flu and other respiratory illnesses, as well as the availability of health and community services over the Christmas period.

Amid a number of initiatives to combat these challenges, the Welsh Ambulance Service will set up ‘pop up’ mobile wards, as a last resort, outside emergency units to avoid queues of ambulances waiting to transfer patients.

Other government led initiatives include: increased consultant cover over challenging weekend periods, additional support for primary care out-of-hours services, and improved use of social workers in hospital to expedite assessment and discharge.