Ambulances: More extraordinary incidents likely, says Drakeford

More "extraordinary incidents" are likely to be declared by the ambulance service this winter, Wales' first minister has warned.

Mark Drakeford said it would be "over optimistic" to say otherwise.

Last weekend problems with handing patients over led the service to ask people to only call 999 if they faced a "life or limb threatening" emergency.

The Welsh Conservatives said the government needed to get its "political priorities right".

Mr Drakeford's comments come almost a year after he lost his temper with Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies, following questions about ambulance response times.

The FM had accused the Conservatives of making a mess of the UK's reputation.

The Welsh Ambulance Service said multiple sites were affected last weekend, with 16 stuck outside the emergency department at Morriston Hospital, Swansea.

One ambulance spent 28 hours outside a hospital.

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In first minister's questions in the Welsh Parliament on Tuesday Mr Davies asked what the Welsh government was doing to stop a repeat of the problems at the weekend.

Mr Drakeford said there had been "plenty of ambulances on the road" at the weekend, but the problem with Morriston lay with the flow into the hospital "so people could be handed over from ambulances in good time".

He said government officials were asking the Swansea Bay University Health Board "how that become the circumstances".

"I wish I could say to the member that there'll be no further extraordinary incidents over this winter. But I'm afraid that will be an over optimistic statement.

"They were extraordinary incidents last winter in Wales, in England, in Scotland."

Declaring such an incident is one of the techniques that those managing the service will have to have, he added, explaining that it allows for "mutual aid" to be brought in.

Later, Mr Davies said: "It was this time last year that you accused me of having the temerity to come to this chamber and raise similar instances about the ambulance service."

Raising examples of poor care, he said, it was a "recurring theme", and criticised the first minister for spending money on 20mph, and for the plans for more politicians in the Senedd.

Mr Drakeford added there were more people working in the Welsh ambulance service than "ever before in the history of devolution".

Savings

Last week Health Minister Eluned Morgan told BBC Wales in an interview she planned to tell health boards last Friday how much they will be expected to make in savings over the winter.

"They are going to have to make savings this winter. We will be trying to do that through things like cutting the number of agency workers," she said.

Health boards are expecting significant deficits, with estimates that the Welsh NHS has overspent by more than £800m. It is not expected that the funding announced for the NHS last week - worth £425m - will fill the gap.

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth asked for details on the floor of the Senedd. Mr Drakeford replied that Ms Morgan was still "discussing these issues with the health boards".

"It's the responsibility of the health boards to come forward with the plans," he said.

Mr ap Iorwerth later accused Ms Morgan's comments of lacking detail

Leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, Andrew RT Davies, said in a statement: "We know that the Labour Welsh Government can act to fund vanity projects when it suits them, from blanket 20mph to 36 more politicians, instead they need to get their political priorities right and fix our Welsh NHS."