A “truly upsetting and unacceptable” situation has sparked called for the Welsh Government to take urgent action to stop it from ever happening again.
Local Senedd Member Natasha Asghar outlined a shocking health-related incident involving a constituent in Newport with the First Minister this week.
The South Wales East Politician told the Welsh Parliament: “First Minister, I want to share a horrific experience from one of my constituents and what they had to endure when trying to get medical attention.
“My constituent's mother had a nasty fall at home and sustained some injuries. The family called for an ambulance and was told there would be a 14-hour wait.
“Following advice from 111, the family were told to move her onto the settee and keep an eye on her condition whilst they waited for a doctor to arrive.
“The following day, after her spending a night on the sofa, the doctor phoned to say he wouldn't be visiting, as his shift had finished, and, instead, told my constituent to take his mother to the Royal Gwent. As it was impossible for my constituent to lift his 98-year-old mother and carry her to the car, she remained on the settee.
“Two days later, my constituent's mother's condition deteriorated, and an ambulance arrived to take the patient to the Grange hospital, where she faced a nine-and-a-half-hour wait in an ambulance before being admitted.
“She was then transferred to the Royal Gwent, and one afternoon, as my constituent was parking his car at the hospital, the doctor called him to tell him to make his way to the hospital as soon as possible as his mother did not have long to live.”
Natasha went on to explain that after entering the hospital, her constituent was told his mother had died several hours earlier.
Natasha Asghar MS asked the First Minister: “I appreciate there is a lot to unpack there, but this really isn’t acceptable, and I am not at all having a dig at our fantastic health care staff, but what is the Welsh Government doing to stop truly upsetting and unacceptable incidents like these from happening in the future?”
In response, First Minister Eluned Morgan MS said:
“Well, that sounds like an absolutely dreadful experience, and that is not good enough. That is absolutely not good enough.
“What I can tell you is that additional funding has been given to the health board to try and tackle some of these issues. I know that the health Secretary is undertaking a review of the amber category in relation to the Welsh ambulance service at the moment.”
