Royal Stoke declares CRITICAL INCIDENT

A 'critical incident' has been declared at Stoke-on-Trent's main hospital. A&E pressures at the Royal Stoke University Hospital and too many patients blocking beds on wards have been blamed for the current crisis.

It is the third time the Royal Stoke has declared a critical incident in 2024. It gives NHS bosses additional powers to speed up the discharge of more medically-fit patients.

The latest critical incident alert also affects County Hospital, in Stafford.

Royal Stoke chief operating officer Simon Evans said: “We are currently experiencing extremely high demand for all our services. Both Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospital have been under severe and sustained pressure for the last week but we have seen even greater demands in the last three days.

“We have therefore taken the decision to declare a critical incident. This helps us to take additional measures to maintain safe services for our patients and those in the community waiting for an ambulance.

“Locally, we are working with our NHS and local authority partners to ensure that people who need hospital and emergency care can get treatment quickly and to identify any additional support that allows us to discharge patients who do not require acute hospital care. As anticipated, the pressure is greatest in our emergency departments which are facing continued challenges as patients cannot be admitted to beds promptly."

The Royal Stoke is warning of even longer A&E delays.

Medical director Dr Matthew Lewis added: “During this time the emergency departments will continue to see the sickest patients first, which means, for some patients, there may be much longer delays than usual. We continue to ask the public to help us by only using A&E in a serious or life-threatening emergency. When we’re discharging patients, we ask that their friends or loved-ones pick them up from hospital as soon as possible and have everything they need at home. I would like to thank our staff for their ongoing efforts during this extremely challenging period and the public for their understanding and co-operation.”

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