A PATIENT waited more than two days to see a healthcare professional at Glan Clwyd Hospital's Emergency Department.

Gareth Davies, MS for the Vale of Clwyd, was contacted by the patient, who wishes to remain anonymous.

They waited 55 hours in total. This was from entering the emergency department at the Bodelwyddan hospital to receiving the care and attention from the relevant healthcare professionals.

Mr Davies, who brought up the matter in the Senedd to Wales' health minister Eluned Morgan, said: "I was contacted recently by a very concerned Vale of Clwyd resident who informed me of a 55-hour waiting time at the A&E department at Glan Clwyd Hospital recently. That's over two days, minister, and, quite frankly, it's an obscene amount of time for my constituents to wait for treatment, from arriving at Emergency Department to being seen and treated by the relevant health professionals."

Rhyl Journal: MS Gareth Davies outside Glan Clwyd Hospital in Bodelwyddan.MS Gareth Davies outside Glan Clwyd Hospital in Bodelwyddan. (Image: Gareth Davies)

Ms Morgan replied: "So, look, 55 hours is utterly unacceptable. It's utterly unacceptable. We had some issues with some very long waits in Wrexham, and immediately we got on to it and tried to clear the system. But, actually, if you look at the overall picture, and so you are going to get individuals, which is still unacceptable, but the overall picture is improving.

"Over the last 12 months, the performance in terms of the four-hour emergency department has increased from 42 per cent to 56 per cent. It's not great, but it's definitely going in the right direction. And in terms of the 12-hour waits, that was reduced from May 2022 to May 2023 -we've seen a 14 per cent improvement there. So, we're definitely heading in the right direction.

"I just want to give a shout-out to Betsi for some of the improvements they are making - and they are genuinely are. And, do you know what, it's really important that we all celebrate together when that happens, because the last thing this board needs is more people talking it down. So, the improvement in relation to out-patients in Betsi has been quite, quite astounding.

"Since January, we've seen a 43 per cent improvement in terms of the number of out-patients waiting for a year. That's an incredible - an incredible effort by the people in that health board, and I'd like to thank them for that incredible effort."

Mr Davies sees the failure to build North Denbighshire Community Hospital at the Royal Alexandra in Rhyl as a major contributory factor to long A&E waiting times at Glan Clwyd.

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Dr Jim McGuigan, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board’s (BCUHB) deputy executive medical director, said: “It is distressing to hear of anyone waiting this long for treatment within an emergency department, and I apologise to the patient in this particular case.

“All patients in our EDs are triaged and then treated according to clinical need and I would urge this person to contact our concerns team, so we can better understand what happened in this instance.

“Mr Davies is also invited to contact the Health Board using the established channel we have for elected members, so he can provide us with more detail. This would allow us to respond to his specific concerns more fully.

“Meanwhile, all of our emergency departments remain extremely busy and I want to thank our staff for going above and beyond in trying to get people seen in a timely manner.

“We urge the public to help them. Patients who do not need full emergency hospital treatment may find they can get appropriate advice and care from other NHS services, including 111, minor injury units and local pharmacies.

“Please visit the BCUHB website if you are unsure where to go.”