Four London NHS trusts have said they are ‘extremely busy’ and have reminded patients to choose the right care before visiting them. The warning comes amid wider UK pressures on hospitals as several declare critical incidents.
Emergency departments at Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust, Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust and Hillingdon Hospitals Trusts are “extremely busy” today.
Winter months usually bring added pressure to the NHS, as rates of illnesses such as cold and flu rise. The pressures have affected hospitals across the country with several hospitals declaring critical incidents.
Meanwhile, in London, there has been added pressure on the accident and emergency services of several NHS Trusts.
A spokesperson for Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust said: “Our hospitals are extremely busy at the moment. Please do come in if you have a planned appointment or if you are in need of urgent medical attention because of issues such as chest pain, blacking out, broken limbs or serious blood loss.
“If you need medical advice, but it’s not an emergency, please use the right service to get the care you need. This will be quicker and safer for you and your family and will help us to see patients who are facing urgent medical issues as quickly as we can.”
The Royal Free London posted a message similar on its X account yesterday afternoon. St George’s Hospital in South London also declared a critical incident on Sunday due to bed shortages, reports the Standard.
The pressures UK-wide have led to a number of NHS trusts in England declaring critical incidents amid ‘exceptionally high demands’ on emergency services. Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust declared critical incidents on Tuesday morning, while NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group declared a critical incident at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital on Monday evening.
Elsewhere, a critical incident declared by NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly on Friday continues.
Last week, NHS data revealed the number of people in hospital with flu in England was four times the amount it was one month ago, with officials warning cases are “rising at a very concerning rate.”
King’s College Hospital Trust has imposed changes to their hospital visits due to “high rates of flu and respiratory illness.” Anyone with flu-like symptoms, or vomiting or diarrhoea, is being asked not to attend A & E unless it is an emergency.
Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, told the PA news agency that this flu season is the “straw that is breaking the camel’s back”.
“This flu season is not an outlier, but the problem is our emergency care system is so overwhelmed and fragile that a normal flu season – which is what we’ve got at the moment – is creating severe operational difficulties,” he said.
“And it would be a mistake to think that this is solely a result of winter viruses. We have been chronically overloaded and overwhelmed for a number of years.
“It is a significant flu outbreak, but the problem is there’s just no capacity to deal with it. So it is really a straw that is breaking the camel’s back.”
He added: “It’s important in terms of public safety that people seek help in the usual way.
“If they think they’re having an emergency, they should call 999. Likewise, they should try and contact their GP, or NHS 111.
“People will be seen but they may have long delays, either to be seen or if they need to be admitted, but we will try and do our absolute best to look after people.”
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