City's hospital working at highest NHS alert level

A city hospital has declared its highest level of alert as staff respond to "significant and growing demand".

Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI) has been escalated to OPEL 4 (Operations Pressure Escalation Levels) on the system the NHS uses to grade demand, which means it is "unable to deliver comprehensive care" and patient safety is at risk.

The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Trust, which runs the hospital, said: "Whilst Furness General Hospital is also operating with some pressures, the decision to declare RLI OPEL 4 has been made due to the high demand we are seeing at RLI."

A similar alert was triggered in December due to an increase in patient numbers.

The trust said patients should still turn up for appointments unless they have been contacted directly to advise otherwise.

It added that immediate action had been taken to help meet rising demand.

Those measures include:

• Utilising all alternative options to the emergency department, including same-day emergency care and the priority admission discharge unit
• Community colleagues focusing on admission avoidance activities
• Cancelling non-essential meetings/activities to redirect clinician time to patient-facing activities
• Seeking support from local partners and the integrated care board

The trust also said: "The public can help us manage these periods of demand by ensuring they are seeking help from the most appropriate health services, and only attending A&E for serious accidents and emergencies."

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