Welsh ambulance service chiefs have urged the public to “drink sensibly” at New Year to help reduce demand on emergency services that suffered a 340-call backlog on Monday.

Jason Killens, chief executive of Welsh Ambulance Service, made the plea after the service declared a critical incident.

In addition, more than half of the trust’s ambulance vehicles were waiting to handover patients outside hospitals.

Mr Killens asked the public to use the service “wisely” and only call during a “genuine emergency”, adding it was prepared for the additional pressure and 999 calls.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Mr Killens said there were delays at urgent and emergency care departments which prevented ambulance staff handing over patients.

He said that one of the reasons for the pressure on the health system was down to winter viruses such as flu and Covid along with other factors.

“The pressure across the urgent and emergency care in the NHS is well documented. It’s a challenge here in Wales as it is in the rest of the UK,” he said.

Mr Killens said other factors had also contributed to the pressures placed on the system.

“It’s caused by many factors some associated with patients that are medically fit for discharge being unable to get back in to the communities because of the pressure in adult social care,” he said.

However, he added that while the pressure had continued overnight, the number of ambulances waiting were slightly less.

“As we go through this morning and we see the numbers of calls coming into us rising throughout the day as we normally would, we will see that similar situation of pressure arise today,” he said.

He apologised to patients waiting “far to long” but said there were plans in place to manage the backlog of calls.

“We do have doctors, nurses and paramedics providing advice over the phone and managing less serious patients in a different way so we can respond to those much more sick patients as quickly as we can,” he said.

Mr Killens also thanked the staff and volunteers for their work during the critical incident.

On Monday, the Welsh Ambulance Service described the situation as “very rare”.

Speaking to Radio Wales Breakfast, Mr Killens explained that declaring a critical incident “signals the the rest of the NHS that we’ve got a problem, we are under extreme pressure and we need help”.

Dr Rowena Christmas, Chair of the Royal College of GPs in Wales said the situation was worrying and it had been ongoing for several years.

She said: “The amount of acute respiratory illnesses we are seeing at the moment is extraordinary.”

A critical incident was also declared in December 2020, due to high demand, particularly in south east Wales.

But an extraordinary incident was declared in 2023 after an ambulance spent more than 28 hours outside a hospital.

The Welsh government said urgent and emergency care services across Wales continued to see high levels of demand this winter.

A spokesperson said: “We are urging people to only call 999 in the event of a life-threatening emergency and to carefully consider where to go for care. For urgent care needs, NHS 111 Wales can be accessed 24/7 online or telephone service for advice and signposting.

“Increase in flu cases has further added pressure during the Christmas period and resulted in action being taken by health boards including prevention and control measures.”