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Ambulance handover delays will be targeted in Aneurin Bevan University Health Board’s new plan to deliver better care over the next three years.

A report shows in a typical month last year, 783 patients spent more than an hour waiting outside hospital in an ambulance.

The health board has set phased targets to swiftly bring that number down to a maximum of 500.

By improving ambulance handover rates, the health board also hopes to free up paramedics from waiting outside hospital doors.

The report shows that in a typical month last year, crews “lost” a combined 3,158 hours outside the Grange University Hospital – equivalent to four months of waiting.

Meanwhile, care home staff will be given more training to support residents who fall, in a bid to reduce pressures on hospital admissions.

The work forms part of the health board’s new three-year plan for its services, published amid “significant pressures” and rising demand for urgent and emergency care.

Introducing the plan, the health board’s chief executive Nicola Prygodzicz said the aim was to get patients “home as quickly and as safely as possible”.

“This is a huge pressure area for everyone in the NHS across the UK,” she added.

The plan describes a “critical need” to address longer hospitalisations and improve patient flow into and out of hospital.

On average, the rate of beds occupied for stays of three weeks or more has risen by 23.1% over the past five years.

“We know that spending too long in hospital can cause deconditioning, [so] our aim is to support people home as soon as it is safe to do so,” the health board said in its plan.

As well as extra falls training for care homes, the health board intends to overhaul its frailty and elderly care services “to deliver a sustainable, efficient service for our frail population”, a spokesperson added.

According to the health board’s plan, “by focusing on improving ambulance handovers, reducing prolonged stays, and addressing care delays, the system can continue to make meaningful progress in enhancing patient outcomes and operational efficiency”.