Welsh rugby match halted as injured player lies stricken on pitch for six hours

A stricken rugby player was forced to lay injured on a cold and wet pitch unable to move when it took an ambulance six hours to reach him from the nearest hospital - five miles away. The player sustained a suspected serious injury during the first half of Nantgaredig RFCs League Two West match against Whitland RFC at Cae’r Ystrad, Nantgaredig, in Carmarthenshire on Saturday afternoon.

Towards the end of the first half, shortly after 3pm, play was halted due to concern for the player and the nature of the injury. Medical staff on hand concluded it was unsafe to move the player and the game itself was relocated to a secondary pitch for the second half.

The Welsh Ambulance Service was called and the club was told an ambulance could be expected to arrive at the ground around four hours later, despite the fact that Glangwili Hospital is just over five miles away on the way into Carmarthen. For the latest Carmarthenshire news, sign up to our newsletter here.

During the ordeal, the club's physios covered the player and made sure he was as comfortable as possible while supporting his head and making sure he was not moved in any way. The physios stayed by his side for around six hours and he was able to be moved when first responders arrived at the scene more than four hours after the injury was sustained.

An ambulance eventually arrived at about 9pm - around six hours after the incident - to take the player to hospital. It’s understood that the player is recovering well.

A supporter of Nantgaredig RFC who was at Saturday’s game said: “It was disappointing having to wait six hours for an ambulance to attend to an injured player. The medical team suspected a serious neck injury which necessitated keeping the player immobile on the ground. Ambulance control and the paramedics when they attended could not be faulted, however the system must be questioned when an injured person during a cold winter evening has to lie prone for such a long time. I must also congratulate the dedication and professionalism of the medical team at the rugby club."

Everyone connected with the club has been keen to stress that the first responders and paramedics that arrived at the ground did a fantastic job at ensuring the safety of their player, and that the club does not wish to criticise Welsh Ambulance Service staff for the delay.

A big challenge faced by the service is the limited resources at its disposal due to a packed A&E department and wards at Glangwili Hospital. On many occasions emergency ambulances are waiting outside the hospital’s A&E with patients onboard, sometimes for several hours. This is due to a shortage of beds being made available inside the hospital, meaning patients have to be treated inside ambulances which are often seen queuing outside the hospital entrance.

Unfortunately, this trend is not a new problem, and it seems to be a particularly prevalent one in west Wales. Earlier this year, the Welsh Ambulance Service admitted there are times when it simply cannot respond to 999 calls quickly enough, a situation it described as “untenable”. In the week between Christmas and New Year last year, more than 360 hours were spent by ambulance crews waiting to take patients into Glangwili Hospital.

The huge figure is more than twice the total number of hours there are in a single week, but the statistic is based on the hours lost by each ambulance waiting to handover a patient. So across the seven-day period, all ambulances that took patients to Glangwili Hospital had to wait outside for a combined total of 52 hours per day - something that is said to be a “serious and long-standing issue”.

READ MORE: The moment two men stroll from restaurant allegedly without paying

DON'T MISS: Motorcyclist with 'zest for life' killed on Sunday morning ride

In response to Saturday’s delay in getting an ambulance to Nantgaredig RFC’s home ground, Lee Brooks, executive director of operations at the Welsh Ambulance Service, said it was dealing with “well-documented pressures”. Mr Brooks said: “We sincerely apologise to the patient for what would have been a painful and distressing wait for an ambulance. While we strive to respond promptly, we must prioritise our limited resources, sending them to patients requiring lifesaving treatment first.

“Unfortunately, the wait the patient experienced reflects the sustained and well-documented pressures across the entire system, which is why we are thinking very differently about the way we deliver services in future and are already testing some new ways of working across Wales to understand how we can relieve some of the pressure. We encourage the patient or their representative to contact our Putting Things Right Team so we can better understand their concerns and investigate the situation, and we wish them a swift recovery.”

Hywel Dda University Health Board, which manages Glangwili Hospital, said the hospital's A&E department was "very busy" on Saturday and warned that it will continue to work under "significant pressure" over the coming months. Due to the amount of people attending A&E having a direct impact on ambulance handover times, the health board is asking people to "think carefully" before attending. Keith Jones, director of secondary care at the health board, said: "We are very sorry to hear about the patient’s experience. Glangwili Hospital was very busy on Saturday and there were lengthy ambulance handover delays for several hours during the day with some patients waiting longer than usual before we could admit them.

"We worked closely with our partners to treat patients as soon as possible and to improve the flow of patients through the hospital, freeing up beds in A&E as soon as possible in order to support our colleagues at the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust (WAST) to carry out their life-saving work. With our hospitals and A&E departments likely to be working under significant pressure over the winter months ahead, we ask people to think carefully before attending our emergency departments.

"If you are unwell and unsure what to do, you can visit the online symptom checker or call NHS 111 if you are unsure what help you need. We are asking people to please only attend an Emergency Department if they have a life-threatening illness or serious injury. If they have a less serious injury then please visit one of our Minor Injury Units. They can treat adults and children over 12 months of age. We have minor injury or walk-in services at our main acute hospitals. For details, please check our website. Many community pharmacies can also provide walk-in, common ailment or triage and treat services without an appointment."