Winter pressures are already being felt by Hywel Dda Health Board, with a warning that the board is facing the worst target performance for years.

The November meeting of the health board agreed a winter preparedness plan which outlined how health chiefs have assessed the needs for additional beds and believe that demand will be met.

However, Joe Teape, outgoing deputy chief executive, said target performance for November was set to be “very poor in all areas”.

Amongst the problems has been a huge increase in the number of cancelled operations compared to October. Mr Teape said that while there had been 30 operations cancelled in October, that was likely to soar to around 90 in November.

He said: “The November unscheduled care performance will be very poor in all areas.

“Red ambulance performance, lost ambulance hours and four-hour and 12-hour waits in A&E will be the worst that we’ve seen, I think, in the time at least that I’ve been here, and possibly a lot longer given the pressure we’re under.

“Operations cancelled because of bed losses this month will be around 90 and that compares to 30 in October, and we’ve also had to defer some urgent cancer cases because of a lack of a bed to bring somebody into, which is very distressing for the patient and their family and also for the staff involved who have to break the news that someone is not going to get their operation on the day planned.”

Health board chief executive Steve Moore said the board was already facing “unprecedented pressure”.

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