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Staff at Royal Preston Hospital and Chorley and South Ribble are facing significant demand on services amid a surge in winter infection.
Some patients are facing waits of up to 74 hours, according to hospital sources, as staff seek to prioritise the sickest patients at their emergency department.
A nurse at Royal Preston Hospital, speaking to Blog Preston anonymously, expressed their frustration that Royal Preston had not declared a ‘critical incident’ in the same manner as trusts in Liverpool, Birmingham and East Midlands.
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That decision may yet be taken, Blog Preston understands, but bosses at Royal Preston assured that the matter is under review several times per day using their operational pressures escalation levels (OPEL) framework.
Masks have not been made mandatory for patients at hospitals as yet but they are available and the trust is regularly reviewing the position. Anyone who has symptoms of flu, Covid or Norovirus are encouraged not to visit Royal Preston or South Ribble and Chorley hospitals, the trust said.
A Lancashire Teaching Hospitals spokesperson told Blog Preston: “The health and social care system in Lancashire and South Cumbria is experiencing significant demand on services, including our hospitals.
“Essential NHS services are available for anyone that needs them, and we would encourage those who require urgent medical help to continue to come forward for care as soon as possible.
“Colleagues are working incredibly hard to treat people as quickly as possible, however some people may experience longer waits after initial triage assessment while we prioritise our sickest patients.
“We are grateful to our colleagues, who go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure our patients receive the highest standards of care possible.”
A&E departments across the country are extremely busy due to rising numbers of patients with flu and other respiratory conditions.
The nurse who spoke to Blog Preston said that they are at ‘breaking point’. At one point today there were 107 people in the emergency department, with 52 waiting to be seen and the longest bed wait set at 74 hours.
They added: “On Good Morning Britain today they were appalled by 50 hour waits in some emergency departments. We hit over 120 hours just three days ago.”
Guidance for the public
The NHS nationally is encouraging the public to use services wisely with 111, GPs and A&E departments seeing high levels of contact.
They pointed to their online service for urgent health advice which can be found here. It does not provide advice for under 5s – who should use 111.
You can use the online service to: find out where to get help for symptoms, access general health information, find out where to get emergency prescribed medicine, access repeat prescriptions and get an emergency dental appointment.
You should still ring 999 if you experience signs of a heart attack such as a heavy weight in your chest, experience signs of a stroke such as your face dropping on one side, have difficulty breathing, bleed heavily and it won’t stop, experience seizures or any rapid swelling.
The NHS is also advising the public to take simple measures to stay well this winter, such as receiving vaccines when invited to, staying warm where possible, staying active, looking out for others and choosing the right service based on the guidance above.
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