A WOMAN from Rhyl has praised the care her husband received at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd a fortnight ago after he attended the Bodelwyddan hospital after a suspected heart attack.

Terry Martin, 80, was taken ill on the afternoon of August 29, which led to him having to be driven to Glan Clwyd by his daughter due to no ambulances being available at the time, either.

But while he was there, his wife Jenny said all members of staff they came across were “so kind and helpful”, despite the emergency department (ED) being “absolutely manic” throughout.

Jenny said: “How they do it, I don’t know. It’s unbelievable.

“He’s not mobile anyway, but he started feeling sick, was passing out, and was very shaky. My daughter and I managed to get him into the recovery position, but he was a complete dead weight.

“We were told later that all ambulances were at hospitals, so we helped him into his car, and I sat in the back with him while my daughter drove to Glan Clwyd.

“Within about five minutes of arriving, we were being seen to. You cannot fault that.”

Terry, who worked for North Wales Police for 30 years, predominantly as a dog handler, was then triaged, and taken for an electrocardiogram and blood tests.

But after his test results proved inconclusive, another set needed to be carried out, meaning he was still at Glan Clwyd throughout the evening.

Despite that, Jenny said she always felt he was “in the right place”.

She added: “All through the night, staff were coming round with hot drinks and sandwiches, and checking up on everybody. I really couldn’t fault them.

“It did quieten over the night, but not by a lot. It was chaotic; between 60 and 75 patients in the ED every time I looked.”

The following morning (August 30), Jenny and Terry were seen to by a “most helpful” member of staff who “explained everything” to them in a quieter area of the ED, before seeing a “lovely” specialist that afternoon.

They were taken to Glan Clwyd’s Same Day Emergency Care unit, where Jenny said there was a “lovely atmosphere”, with all staff there “so kind and helpful”.

Terry will now undergo an ultrasound scan at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Rhyl on September 17, but said he feels in a much healthier place now.

He added: “They were just excellent. It put me at ease.

“I feel OK now, so I’m hoping it will be something quite simple that they can put right when I have a scan.”

Jenny said: “Everybody was so pleasant. The whole lot of them were so, so good.

“They have the patience of a saint. It was unbelievable.”

Last month, Glan Clwyd’s ED was de-escalated from “service requiring significant improvement” status following an inspection by Healthcare Inspectorate Wales in April and May.

Extracts from the report read: "Overall, the service has improved and the arrangements in place have addressed the most significant areas of concern identified in 2022.”