Non-urgent operations and outpatient appointments will not go ahead at Llandough Hospital this month, as the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board has suspended them across all their hospitals to redeploy staff into supporting urgent and emergency care.

In an email seen by Nub News, Cardiff and Vale UHB CEO Len Richards also told staff that demands on Critical Care continue and the Intensive Care Unit has been "working well beyond its normal footprint for some time now".

Emergency services, including emergency and cancer surgery, will continue: patients affected by the cancellation of non-urgent operations and outpatient appointments will be contacted directly.

"You will no doubt be aware of the intense pressure that the Health Board and NHS Wales in general has been under due to the increasing rates of COVID-19 we are seeing in our communities," read the email from Mr Richards.

"This is translating to a huge demand on our unscheduled care system within both primary care and in our hospitals.

"This is compounded by the impact that the virus is having on our staff with high levels of staff absence across the system.

"We have already reduced some scheduled care services to ensure we have staff to support this demand.

"We are also using a lot of staffing capacity as part of our mass vaccination campaign as well as the Test, Trace, Protect programme adding further tensions into the mix."

The health board has also opened its new hospital surge facility, the Lakeside Wing, at UHW to 25 beds.

This space opened to support demand over the weekend, and has the capability to increase by up to another 25 beds in early January.

Mr Richards wrote that the health board is also converting much of its bed capacity within the main parts of its hospitals into Covid wards, including increasing the number of beds that accommodate Aerosol Generating Procedures (medical treatments that can result in airborne particles).

The email did not specify how many beds would be converted.

"I am grateful for the flexibility shown by our staff in responding to these unprecedented challenges, it is a testament to the commitment and the compassion that they have to their patients," continued Mr Richards.

"I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all members of staff who I know have done their utmost to keep all services running as best as possible and as long as possible to date.

"You have done our patients and yourselves proud."