Covid: Morale on Wales' ambulances 'at rock bottom'

Welsh ambulance crews are spending whole shifts waiting to off-load patients, according to a front-line worker.

With the service under increased pressure from the latest Covid wave, Paul Amphlett, a medical technician, said morale was at "rock-bottom".

It comes as the Welsh Ambulance Service formally asked for military help.

The Conservatives will call on ministers to declare an emergency in the service in a Senedd debate later.

Welsh Ambulance Services Trust said it has been under "significant and sustained pressure" in recent months, and is starting to return to some of the arrangement it had at the height of the pandemic.

The Welsh government confirmed it had received a formal request from the Welsh Ambulance Trust for the support of the armed forces.

Figures from July showed only 57.8% of the most serious calls, classed as red, were responded to within eight minutes.

The service received more calls in June than in any month since the pandemic began.

Paul Amphlett retired as a paramedic six years ago and now works part-time as an emergency medical technician in Brecon, Powys.

"I have never known it as bad as it is at the moment, in the sense that morale is at rock bottom," he told BBC Wales.

"I didn't join the ambulance services to babysit patients outside hospitals for eight, 12 hours."

Mr Amphlett, 59, said Health Minister Eluned Morgan was wrong when she told the Senedd last week that the service was under "real pressure" but said she would not describe it as a crisis.

"It is a crisis," Mr Amphlett said, adding that a recent increase in demand was "appalling".

He said crews from his patch in Powys were being sent across south Wales because the service is so stretched.

"When the pandemic started it went quieter, but in the last 12 months it's gone mental.

"There's no let-up. It's constant.

"They (patients) can't get hold of GPs. They are ringing 111 and are speaking to people telling them to ring for an ambulance because they can't get a doctor."

There is concern that a severe flu season this winter, combined with the effects of the pandemic, will put more strain on the NHS.

Mr Amphlett said lockdown resulted in fewer patients with flu last winter, but: "If it happens this winter I don't know how they are going to cope."

Welsh Ambulance Services Trust declined to respond to Mr Amphlett's comments.

On Wednesday, the Welsh Conservatives will call a debate demanding that the Welsh government declares an emergency in the service.

The party said it wanted a "comprehensive plan to improve response times", increase bed capacity and boost access face-to-face primary care appointments.

Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies said: "Drafting in the Army will give our ambulance staff the help they need during these challenging times, but it is a shame this Labour-led Welsh government didn't get the ball rolling sooner."

The military has assisted the NHS throughout the Covid pandemic and if the trust's request made through the Welsh government is approved it is the third time the military will have helped the service.

First Minister Mark Drakeford told the Senedd on Tuesday that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has approved most applications during the pandemic, but not all.

He said the Welsh government would ensure "we make the best possible application".

Welsh Secretary Simon Hart had proposed military help in a letter to the Welsh government sent earlier in September.

More than 200 soldiers have helped drive and decontaminate ambulances, including 90 which were enlisted on Christmas Eve at the height of the pandemic's second wave.

Similar requests have been made in Scotland and in parts of England.

A spokesperson for Joint Military Command Wales said: "Defence remains ready to offer support to civil authorities in the UK and we will work with the Welsh Government and the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust to understand their requirements and offer assistance where appropriate."

Mr Drakeford said his government will now send the request to the MoD.

Speaking at First Minister's Questions, Mr Drakeford said the application for assistance from the ambulance service "first of all comes to the Welsh government, that application has now been received".

If the Welsh government endorses that request, it will then be sent on to the MoD to decide whether to approve the provision of military support for the ambulance service.

Mr Drakeford said: "That will be the stage we will be at next - making sure that we make the best possible application to the Ministry of Defence and hoping that they will be able to offer us the help they have offered us in very large measure during the course of the pandemic."

The Welsh government said: "The ambulance service is facing increased pressure as a result of the pandemic and as we enter what will be a difficult winter period.

"We would urge people to consider how to get the care they need. The NHS 111 Wales website is the quickest way to access healthcare advice if you are unwell, and it includes a symptom checker, information about local healthcare services such as pharmacies, and self-care advice."