MORE than 30,000 999 calls for an emergency ambulance in Wales during the last year have been for minor illness like toothache, sore throats, coughs and colds, according to the Deputy Health Minister Vaughan Gething.

The Deputy Minister warned that a growing number of unnecessary 999 calls to the Welsh Ambulance Service is diverting resources away from the most life-threatening incidents, putting lives at risk.

Over the last year, more than 31,000 non-urgent calls were made for a 999 emergency ambulance with only three of these resulting in a patient being admitted for hospital treatment. Nearly half (14,478) of these calls did not require an emergency ambulance at all.

An inappropriate call often results in extended on-scene time for highly-skilled paramedics – sometimes for as long as two hours – potentially depriving other patients in the community of a timely life-saving intervention.

Every emergency ambulance mobilised costs the Welsh Ambulance Service an average of £238.

Mr Gething will today visit the Welsh Ambulance Services’ control centre in Cwmbran and the A&E department at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport to see for himself the work carried out by frontline NHS staff.

He said: “Our A&E and ambulance service staff work incredibly hard day in day out to provide life-saving treatment to people right across Wales.

“The number of unnecessary calls the ambulance service receives ever year is completely unacceptable.

“People have a responsibility to use our emergency NHS services sensibly, and only call 999 for an emergency ambulance or attend a accident and emergency department when it is just that – a serious accident or a genuine emergency.

“If people do fall ill, then there is a range of options open to them to access the appropriate treatment they need – be that the local GP, the local community pharmacy, the practice nurse, or another healthcare professional such as a physiotherapist or optician. Richard Lee, Head of Clinical Services at the Welsh Ambulance Service, added: “We don’t want to deter anyone from calling 999, but we want people to think twice before they do. Unfortunately, we still receive a significant number of inappropriate calls about trivial or long-term conditions that will not be helped by an ambulance response. "