Health chiefs have admitted that patients were forced to wait in ambulances outside Bronglais Hospital during a “particularly busy day” following the August bank holiday.

There were delays in patients being admitted to the hospital on Tuesday, 27 August leading to some having to wait in ambulances queued outside the hospital. The Welsh Ambulance Service confirmed that there had been issues at Bronglais on the day.

Rob Jeffery, the operations manager for Hywel Dda at the ambulance service, said: “Tuesday, 27 August was a particularly busy day for us after the bank holiday, and our staff worked tirelessly with Bronglais Hospital teams to try and tackle the unusually heavy demand on our service.

“Along with an increase in demand, some of our patients do have complex needs which, on occasions, will slow the handover process down.”

Hazel Davies, the general manager at Bronglais Hospital, said there had been issues during the “extremely busy period” after the bank holiday.

She said: “We had an extremely busy period at Bronglais Hospital following the bank holiday weekend, which is not unusual for this time of year. This in turn meant that unfortunately some patients did experience a delay in being admitted to hospital and these were prioritised based on clinical need.

“The public can help by using the ambulance service appropriately and thinking about the alternatives to 999 – including your GP, pharmacist, minor injuries unit, or NHS Direct Wales (111) which has a wealth of symptom checkers to help signpost you to the right place.”

See this week’s south editions, in shops and online now