Residents in Wales are being warned to stay indoors rather than risk broken bones and other injuries, with the wintry conditions continuing to put increasing pressure on hospitals and those in physiotherapy jobs.

As reported by Wales Online, A&E departments in Wales have seen a sharp increase in the number of people they are treating for fractures after slipping or falling in the recent ice or snow. Last week, the Assembly Government gave the NHS an extra £110m in an effort to help it deal with the added winter pressures and to keep patients out of hospital.

The snow was described as an "accident waiting to happen" by Health Minister Edwina Hart, who told of a friend who had fractured their wrist after falling in their driveway.

Admitting she wouldn't leave the house if she didn't have to work, she said: "It's always ironic when people describe snow as pretty. I used to think that until I became Health Minster - now it's an accident waiting to happen and very dangerous if you're frail or elderly."

"People have to take care of themselves in this weather," she added.

A spokesman for Gwent's Aneurin Bevan Health Board urged residents to consider whether they really need to be treated at A&E or whether it would be more appropriate to see another health professional. Mrs Hart added that the extra money given to the NHS would enable people to be treated closer to home.

"We shouldn't be using pressurised budgets as excuses not to deliver for people," she said.