UPDATE: 6.08pm

AMBULANCE crews had been put under "huge" pressure by a large and sustained increase in 999 calls in South East Wales during Thursday and into Friday.

"Thursday night was particularly difficult, with more than 250 calls received between 5pm and midnight, many of which were in our highest acuity categories," said Darryl Collins, the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust’s interim head of operations for the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board area.

“Our priority is always those 999 calls where there is an immediate threat to life. When we are under the sort of pressure we’ve experienced this week, all our available resources will be prioritised to go to these calls. Unfortunately, that means that other 999 callers, whose symptoms are not as serious, have to wait longer for us to arrive than any of us would like.

“We try our very best to deal with our most poorly patients first, but we recognise this is of little comfort to those patients who have to wait longer and we would like to apologise to them for this.

“It’s important to recognise that not all 999 calls fall into the category where the risk to patients is imminent and life threatening, and all calls are prioritised to make sure we respond based on clinical need.

"We also have clinicians working in our control room, providing patients with additional clinical assessment to ensure we fully understand their condition and giving specialist clinical advice to our call handlers.

“ We are working very closely with our colleagues at Aneurin Bevan Health Board to improve the handover of patients at hospitals, so that our crews are not held up for longer than strictly necessary at emergency departments, and we’re also upskilling our paramedics and providing them with tools to ensure that they have the right skills and information to make better decisions about whether patients really need to go to hospital or can be safely cared for at home, perhaps with the support of community or primary care teams.

“We would urge everyone to think before dialling 999 and to use our emergency services sensibly. Over the winter months, we know there are many people in need of help but not all of them require an emergency ambulance response.

“We regularly use the media and social media to help local people understand how best to access services, using the nationally recognised Choose Well system, and we encourage everyone to inform themselves about the services available and what an ‘emergency’ means.

“NHS Direct Wales colleagues are also available 24/7 to offer advice and guidance, which can be really helpful in advising those patients with non-urgent symptoms.”

UPDATE: 4.29pm

PEOPLE are being urged to stay away from the Royal Gwent's "exceptionally busy" A&E department if at all possible, as staff try to deal with a surge in demand that has seen some patients diverted to other hospitals.

Patients have also been assessed whilst still in the ambulances parked outside, and a man with a relative waiting to be seen at the hospital this morning, told the Argus that corridors in A&E are "chock-a-block" and at one point there were nine ambulances parked up outside.

And a woman from Monmouthshire - who also did not want to be named - said her husband, aged 70, was rushed into the unit at around 4.30pm yesterday, but when she turned up from work an hour later she was told he was still in the ambulance.

"I went outside and there were nine ambulances parked up. I didn't know which one he was in and it was so busy that in the end I rang his mobile phone so I could find him more easily," she said.

"He has a heart condition and had collapsed at home. He was prioritised, but it was at least 6pm before he was triaged and taken in.

"I left about 11pm-midnight and he still had not seen a doctor and was still on a hospital trolley, and he was in the assessment ward this morning.

"At one stage last night I heard staff talking about closing the unit to new admissions because it was so busy."

An Aneurin Bevan University Health Board spokesman said patients have been diverted to other hospitals as and when it was deemed appropriate, to try to ease the situation at the Royal Gwent "It's been a very busy week and was exceptionally busy last night. We diverted patients as appropriate but didn't close," he said.

"We apologise for any delays experienced, as all patients are treated in accordance with their clinical priority. It's still very busy with high levels of medical emergency admissions."

* A handy guide to helping choose the most appropriate NHS service to help with illness and injury, can be found at www.choosewellwales.org.uk