The biggest hospital in Wales has halted non-urgent in-patient surgery until February in an effort to cope with the annual winter crisis.

Medical directors at the University Hospital of Wales(UHW) in Cardiff have said they are being realistic about their chances of coping with increased emergencies brought on by cold weather.

We can't really go on having quick-fixes all the time John Osbourne, BMA

Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust, which runs the teaching hospital, said the decision had been taken to avoid last-minute cancellations.

To ensure they avoid having to postpone non-urgent operations on a daily basis, no surgery has been scheduled until February.

Day surgery appointments will not be affected.

Mike Stone, chief executive of the Patients Association, said it was the first time he had heard of such a move.

"One only has to put yourself in the position of a patient and to have their operation cancelled or postponed, the psychological effect is very great," he said.

"The lack of a capacity is a major reason and it is about social services working with the NHS to look at the problems."

Doctor Philip Matthews, Associate Medical Director at the hospital, and responsible for emergency surgery, fears the plan could become an annual occurrence unless resources are improved.

"Unless we get a significant increase in the capacity of the trust, we are going to have to consider this every winter," he said.

Consultant Ken Shute warned of problems at the Royal Gwent

Over the next six weeks, staff will concentrate on emergencies and urgent cases like cancer.

The day surgery unit will continue to work as normal, but will be enhanced this year with accomodation for overnight stays.

The UHW initiative comes just a day after a senior consultant at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport predicted that problems with waiting lists and cancelled operations looked set to get worse.

Ken Shute - a consultant for 20 years at the hospital which has the longest waiting list in the UK - said that if extra funding was not provided, the situation would be "catastrophic" within five years.

'Monster hospital'

His comments followed a series of complaints by patients - some suffering from cancer - who had had their operations cancelled because of pressures of emergency cases.

Mr Shute said major investment was the only real answer.

"The ideal from the medical point of view would be to have a monster hospital - perhaps based in the middle of Gwent - and then we could hopefully have an elective centre where all routine surgery was performed separate from the emergency provision," he explained.

John Osborne, chair of the Consultants' Committee of the British Medical Association, said action of the kind being taken by UHW was not the answer.

'Inevitable consequence'

"We can't really go on having quick-fixes all the time," he said, adding that the long-term solution was greater investment.

"This situation is an inevitable consequence of the lack of capacity we have in Wales, particularly in south Wales."

Figures released on Thursday revealed that the number of people facing long waits for hospital treatment in hospitals in Wales had risen since last month.

Carmarthenshire Council has received a �136,000 Welsh Assembly grant aimed at tackling bed-blocking at Glangwili Hospital over Christmas.

'Wonderful news'

The move means 24 people can now be moved into care homes and 28 can be cared for in their own homes.

Staff at West Wales General Hospital were last week welcoming the news.

Doctor Gareth Rowlands from Cleddau Ward said: "It's wonderful news because we have patients who are in need of surgery but are having to wait because there are no beds available.

"It will help reduce waiting lists for operations."

Operations have been cancelled in large numbers as there are simply not enough beds available in the hospital, often because people have nowhere else to go.

About 70 people in Carmarthenshire hospitals do not need hospital care, but are not well enough to go home.

Most are waiting for a place in care homes and others need home care or disability adaptations.

Auxiliary nurse Sandra Powell said: "It means people needing surgery can come in and have it. And it will be nice for people not to have to spend Christmas in hospital."