We know some of you are very worried about prompt access to care in an emergency.
During Our Big NHS Change consultation in 2018, we found that 93% of the Hywel Dda population is within a one-hour travel time by car to their nearest Accident and Emergency Department. This considered the availability of a new hospital within the zone between and including Narberth and St Clears, Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth, and Morriston Hospital in Swansea.
The Welsh Ambulance Service Trust (WAST) has also assessed its calls and converted these journey times into average travel times (using average road speeds, as opposed to 999 speeds). This showed, that around 98% of incidents were within an hour of either the new hospital zone, Bronglais, or Morriston hospitals. It is important to note that some emergencies are responded to by clinicians, including consultants, coming to the scene by road vehicle or Air Ambulance, called the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS Cymru). Delivery of this care at the scene reduces the risk associated with travelling to a treatment centre. We are pleased to have seen improvements in the access to Wales Air Ambulance, which has increased to a 24/7 service since July 2020. You can read more information about travel times in our technical documents area. The report is called the WAST Site Selection Technical Analysis (opens in new window) and it is part of a several reports included in the Public Board Reports of 04 August 2022 (opens in new window). It includes analysis of existing travel times by different transport, including bus and rail routes, as well as car and emergency transport.