PATIENTS were not prepared to live up to their name when faced with a possible 10-hour wait at Withybush Hospital's Accident and Emergency department.

People were unwilling to put up with the forecast waiting time, according to a Western Telegraph reader who recently snapped the 10-hour sign for evidence.

"Waiting times are extremely ridiculous in the A&E department, it has gone up from six hour wait to a ten hour wait, with people just giving up and walking out," they commented.

However, health chiefs have emphasised that this kind of waiting times are not the norm, and that Withybush now has a 'same day emergency care unit' to help cut down the time that people have to wait.

A spokesperson for Hywel Dda University Health Board told the Western Telegraph:

"The 10 hour wait is not a regular occurrence and would seem to be a one-off."

Andrew Carruthers, the board's director of operations, said: “We apologise to any patients who may experience a long wait before they are seen in our emergency departments.

"We recognise this is not ideal and we are continuing to focus on how we can improve this.

"For example, we have recently opened a ‘same day emergency care unit’ at Withybush Hospital to help reduce the waiting times in the department.

“Whilst we have seen an increase in attendances to our emergency departments in recent weeks, there is some improvement in patient flow generally as the pressure eases from the earlier impact of Covid-19.

"It’s important to note that a number of infection prevention and control procedures and policies remain in place to keep patients safe, and this may, at times, result in delays.

“We would encourage anyone who has concerns about their care or treatment to contact our Patient Support Team on 0300 0200 159 or by emailing hdhb.patientsupportservices@wales.nhs.uk.”

A handy online checker, My A&E Live, gives live waiting times for A & E departments in all Wales' hospitals and minor injury units.

See https://aeinfo.nhs.wales/

At 11am today, Friday April 30, Withybush Hospital A&E was said to be 'busier than usual', with 32 patients and a projected waiting time of one hour 30 minutes.

Glangwili Hospital, Carmarthen was forecasting a 2 hours 15 minutes waiting time, with 25 patients - again, busier than usual.

Swansea's Morriston Hospital was also experiencing more patients than normal, with 90 people looking at 3 hours 15 minutes in the waiting room.

In Tenby, it was a quieter time in the walk-in centre, with just three patients in the queue and less than an hour to wait.

Users of the checker are reminded: "The typical time in department times are indicative based on previous attendance data.

"The information does not include patients arriving by ambulance, or patients with a serious condition that is likely to result in a hospital admission."