WAST refusal forces 83-year-old into four-hour drive — SkimNews
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- Charles Swift drove 70 miles each way from Borth to Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest for heart tests in August, making a four-hour round trip after two heart attacks and treatment for three types of cancer.
- WAST initially refused non-emergency transport for Swift after a call handler learned he owned a car, then said the refusal would not have occurred with more information; it has since changed call-taking processes and provided training.
- Hywel Dda University Health Board normally expects patients to arrange their own transport, while some eligible cases can receive WAST transport, including regular dialysis or cancer treatment, stretcher or oxygen needs, or travel in their own wheelchair.
- WAST acknowledged that rising demand and longer travel distances were stretching resources and increasing cancellations when available vehicles could not cover the workload.
- Dolen Teifi fielded 145 calls in two months after hospital transport was cancelled the day before appointments and helped in about one-third of cases; its 42 vehicles and 160 volunteer drivers make roughly 50 hospital journeys each week.
- Charles Swift had transport for a Monday appointment cancelled on the preceding Friday afternoon and therefore cancelled the appointment; a later arranged trip, which he described as very pleasant, went without problem.
- Hugh Hughes said patients were falling through the net as many services appeared to be migrating farther south despite nearby Bronglais hospital, and called for WAST and Hywel Dda to work together on transport.
Why it matters: For older rural patients, the burden is measurable: Dolen Teifi fielded 145 last-minute cancellation calls in two months and helped in about one-third of those cases, while WAST acknowledged rising cancellations. Volunteer drivers and patients therefore absorb the gap left by strained ambulance transport and long journeys to specialist care.
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