FOLLOWING concerns about ambulances being diverted away from an over-capacity Withybush Hospital there comes new fears that there are significant delays in response times.

Over the weekend patients reported a number of delays in ambulances arriving, including a doctor who is reported to have resorted to bringing in a sick baby himself after waiting an hour.

The Save Withybush campaign page published a post that said a doctor from St Thomas Surgery in Haverfordwest arrived at Withybush A&E on September 14 with a baby on oxygen after waiting for an ambulance to arrive.

It has not been possible to confirm the incident with St Thomas Surgery yet but further attempts to contact the practice manager will be made.

A second woman in the east of Pembrokeshire reported that despite a call by an out of hours doctor at 9am on September 15, there was still no ambulance five hours later.

Her post adds: “A paramedic phoned to check the condition of the patient, and the Ambulance Service has phoned to apologise for the delay, explaining that the delay is in Withybush, because the ambulances are waiting outside and can’t offload.”

The Welsh Ambulance Service Trust referred to the health board for comment.

Deputy chief executive and director of operations at Hywel Dda Joe Teape said: “We are aware of some concerns within the community around urgent care in Pembrokeshire. Firstly we want to thank our hardworking staff who tirelessly care for people day in, day out. Our staff are doing all they can to provide care as quickly as possible to those in need.

“We know there are anxieties around ambulance diverts and patient transfers to other hospitals and want to reassure everyone that at peak times, such as last weekend, people are moved when necessary and as clinically appropriate.

“At times of great demand, ambulances are diverted and this is not exclusive to our health board, this happens across Wales. People are also diverted to Withybush from other hospitals, again depending on current demand.

“We are sorry to hear that some people have had a poor experience and we urge everyone who has a concern to contact our patient support team, who will be able to look into specific concerns. They can be contacted on 0300 0200 159/ hdhb.patientsupportservices@wales.nhs.uk

“As we head into winter, we urge people to use services in the community such as community pharmacies, where appropriate, to help ease the pressure on urgent care.”