Welsh National Board, February 2023

Dr Suresh Pillai, February 06, 2023

This is the first time I am writing a blog in RCEM dispatches so I thought it will be good to start with some background information about the Emergency Services in Wales. As you will be aware, Wales is a popular holiday destination with its outstanding natural beauty. There are several beautiful beaches and mountains with multiple walking trails. And of course, there is the Welsh cakes which was one of the reasons I decided to settle down in Wales!

Wales has 12 Type 1 Emergency Departments (EDs) and most of them are situated on the M4 corridor. For a population of 3.1 million, there were over 1 million attendance to the Welsh EDs in 2022. We have an established pre-hospital care service in Wales called ‘Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service Cymru (EMRTS Cymru)’ that was established in 2015. On 14^th September 2020, Wales had its first Major Trauma Centre opened at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff. All Wales School of Emergency Medicine (AWSEM) is responsible to develop, oversee and deliver training in Emergency Medicine (EM).

Welsh National Board (WNB) meets quarterly and has representations from all EDs and from prehospital EM, head of the school, trainee rep, TERN, EMSAS, ACP and the lay representative. Our vice-chair is Rob Perry who is an EM Consultant from Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor. I work in Morriston Hospital, Swansea as an EM and ICM Consultant.

The situation in Welsh EDs are not that different from what is happening elsewhere in UK. The December 2022 performance figures showed the worst ever 8-hour and 12-hour performance. The emergency care facilities attendances was 19.6% more when compared to previous year.

The RCEM Welsh Medical Workforce Census data launch event on 19^th January 2023 at Senedd Cymru (Welsh Parliament) was a huge success. There were a number of stake holders and policy makers in attendance including the Minister of Health and Social Services who delivered the key note speech. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Tamara, Pooja, Daisy and policy team for their hard work to get the census data and organising the launch event. Thank you Adrian Boyle (RCEM President) for being there and supporting us. You can read about the census data in detail on this link: https://rcem.ac.uk/rcem-wales-emergency-medicine-workforce-census-reveals-significant-staffing-shortages-as-health-service-remains-in-crisis/.

Rob Perry and I attended several media interviews and have been persistently highlighting the issues such as exit block, staff shortages and the dangerous situation in Welsh EDs. WNB had written to the Minister of Health and Social Services on several occasions. With our relentless efforts, engagement with policy makers and stake holders have flourished and so we have organised scheduled meetings in hope that we can continue with the dialogue.

Dr Suresh Pillai

Chair, Welsh National Board/ VP RCEM Wales