GWENT'S only emergency department is "under severe pressure" and is dealing with much higher patient volumes than normal.

The health board has urged people to check which type of service they require before turning up at the Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran.

The Grange is Gwent's only critical care department and home to the region's only major A&E service.

On Monday, there were 340 patients arriving at the emergency department at the Grange, which resulted in "many patients with non-life threatening conditions waiting up to 12 hours to be seen by a doctor", the health board said.

"On a usual day, the emergency department sees between 140 and 220 patients," it added.

The high volumes of patients are putting extra pressure on an already beleaguered healthcare system, which is still attempting to clear large backlogs of treatment that had been postponed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Wider problems with patient flow - caused partly by bottlenecks in social care, that mean many patients wait longer than necessary to be discharged - are causing a domino effect of delays that can have serious impacts on how long people spend at the Grange's front door.

Today, Tuesday, the health board said there were "already 100 patients in the emergency department by 10am".

Health bosses are now "are appealing to people to only visit the Grange University Hospital with serious or life-threatening illnesses".

Dr Alastair Richards, clinical director at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, said: “We are currently seeing around a 30 per cent increase in the number of patients in ED, compared to a usual busy day.

“We know that around 300 people who turn up at The Grange University Hospital each week have minor illnesses that could be treated elsewhere. With things as they are at the moment, people attending with such minor illnesses are likely to be waiting a very long time to be seen.”

The health board has urged people to call 111 for advice, or use the online NHS Wales symptom checker, before attending the emergency department.

For non-life threatening illnesses, the health board recommends visiting your local pharmacist, or contacting your GP surgery – but to remember that their staff are also working under significant pressure.

Alternatively, if you have a minor injury, you should visit the Minor Injury Units in Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr, Nevill Hall Hospital, the Royal Gwent Hospital, or Ysbyty Aneurin Bevan.

"Our staff are doing an incredible job under extreme pressure and we’d like to thank them for their dedication to patients at this time," the health board added.