PATIENTS have been left waiting hours in A&E at Bronglais in the days after Christmas with several ambulances backed up outside and one resident describing the scene as “like a warzone”.

On Tuesday, Hywel Dda University Health Board said there was currently “extreme pressure” across its hospital sites.

The health board issued warnings that “hospitals continue to be extremely busy with many sick patients and continuing high demand for emergency and urgent care.”

One patient who visited the A&E department on Wednesday, 28 December, told the Cambrian News that “it’s like a war zone, patients in the corridors, waiting room full, and seven ambulances outside.”

He warned that A&E “won’t be able to deal with” many more arrivals.

Hywel Dda Health Board said that “patients are waiting longer than we would want them to.”

“We are working hard with colleagues, particularly from the Welsh Ambulance Services Trust, and local authorities, and we are seeing patients with the highest clinical needs first,” the health board added.

The health board has urged people to only attend an Emergency Department if you have a life-threatening illness or serious injury.