Trusts declare critical incidents over high demand
PA MediaNHS hospital trusts in south-east England have declared critical incidents due to "significant ongoing pressure" on their services.
NHS Surrey Heartlands said the situation had been made worse by rising flu and norovirus cases, as well as an increase in staff sickness.
In Surrey, the critical incidents affect the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust and Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust has also declared a critical incident due to "sustained pressures" at the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate.
The critical incidents are a result of a surge in complex attendances to A&E departments and ongoing challenges in discharging patients who are well enough to leave hospital, NHS Surrey Heartlands said.
The recent cold weather had also had an impact on services, with more frail patients needing to be admitted to hospital, it added.
Rescheduled operations and appointments
Dr Charlotte Canniff, joint chief medical officer of NHS Surrey Heartlands, said declaring a critical incident allowed trusts to take additional steps to maintain safe services for patients and "help us cope with the growing pressures".
"Unfortunately, this means local organisations may need to reschedule some non-urgent operations, treatments and outpatient appointments to accommodate those patients with the most urgent clinical need," she said.
"People should attend appointments unless they are contacted; cancer and our other most urgent operations continue to be prioritised."
In Kent, the trust said its hospitals were experiencing "exceptionally high demand, driven by a continued high admission rate and a large number of patients with winter illnesses and respiratory viruses".
"Beds across our hospitals are currently full and attendance at our emergency departments is extremely high, meaning there is very limited capacity to admit further patients who need acute care," it added.
"Attending our emergency departments for non-life-threatening conditions will result in an extremely long wait. If you need medical assistance, please consider using alternative services."
Which hospitals are impacted?
Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust runs hospitals including the Royal Surrey County Hospital, Haslemere Hospital, Milford Hospital, Cranleigh village Hospital, Royal Surrey Cancer Centre and Royal Surrey Cancer Centre at East Surrey and Ashford.
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust runs hospitals and clinics including East Surrey Hospital, Horsham Hospital, Dorking Clinic, Horley Health Clinic and Lingfield Clinic.
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust runs hospitals including Buckland Hospital, Kent and Canterbury Hospital, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital, Victoria Hospital in Deal and William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.
Clarification 13 January: This article originally referred to four NHS trusts declaring critical incidents, including Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust. We have updated the article to remove this trust, as we have since been informed that it did not declare a critical incident.
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