“We’re not miracle workers.”

Pressure on the NHS continues to rise and while the doctors and nurses in the Emergency Department (ED)at the Maelor Hospital are desperate to provide the best service possible, it is not that easy.

By 10am on Wednesday, June 29, there were 90 patients in ED at the Maelor.

36 patients were sat in the waiting room, with eight needing a clinical space. 35 other patients were waiting for a bed on the ward.

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Eight patients who needed attention but couldn’t be provided a space were sat in the minor injuries corridor and three patients were waiting in ambulances outside the department, with the longest wait of five hours.

Meanwhile, there were 73 patients on-site that were deemed medically fit for discharge.

On the ward, Doctors and Nurses were pacing around trying to care for patients or even trying to locate additional rooms to examine patients in, which is a regular occurrence.

Hospital waits are a concern at the Maelor, but there is so much more to it than not enough beds or lack of staff. 

Emergency Department Manager at the Maelor Hospital, Lindsey Bloor said: "It's a constant cycle, we roughly have about 65 people medically fit to be discharged but can't be due to no social care plans in place, for example. 

"Then we have around 37 people that need to be seen but we don't have the room to see them.

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"We regularly have doctors and nurses rushing around the wards to try and find spaces to examine patients.

"Of course, we don't want people to have to face long waits, but the staff are trying their best. We have to work with what we've got and at the minute we're faced with huge pressures."

During a regular weekday in the ED, there will be around 10 doctors and 13 nurses on shift, yet due to staffing issues, those numbers drop at weekends which leads to longer waits for patients.

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Lindsey discussed the realities of what life is like in the ED, she added:

“The doctors will take it in turns doing day or night shifts, while nurses are on 12-hour shifts.

“It is difficult for them as a lot are local, so when they see negative comments about the service it will affect them.

“They are working so hard, and nobody comes to work to do a bad job. We are all trying our best, but we’re not miracle workers."

The NHS are encouraging those that don't need to go to an Emergency Department, to visit their GP or local pharmacy.