NHS hospital declares essential incident as individuals advised ‘keep away’ with beds full
East Kent Hospitals has declared an internal critical incident due to exceptional demand, with beds full across all sites and extremely high emergency department attendance
A critical incident has been called at hospital in Kent (stock)(Image: Luis Alvarez via Getty Images)
A UK hospital has declared a critical incident due to ‘ongoing and exceptional’ demand for services.
Leaders at the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust revealed the decision has not been ‘taken lightly’ following exceptionally high patient numbers at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.
The trust confirmed beds across all its facilities are presently at capacity.
A trust spokesperson explained: “Our hospitals are seeing very high numbers of patients needing hospital care. 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 urgent hospital care.
“We also have a number of patients with winter illnesses and respiratory viruses at William Harvey Hospital. Attending our emergency departments for non-life-threatening conditions may result in an extremely long wait.”
The trust stated that whilst appointments and scheduled procedures are under review, patients should expect them to proceed unless they receive contact to the contrary, reports Kent Live.
Residents are being encouraged to utilise alternative services including NHS 111, their GPs, local chemists or an urgent treatment centre.
Those suffering from winter viruses are being urged to remain at home, rest, maintain fluid intake, and use over-the-counter medicines such as paracetamol or ibuprofen to manage symptoms.
Sarah Hayes, Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer at East Kent Hospitals, stated: “Our teams continue to work incredibly hard in exceptionally busy conditions to ensure patients receive safe, high quality and compassionate care.
“The pressure on our urgent and emergency services remains extremely high, and we are focused on supporting patients who need us most.
“Declaring a critical incident enables us to keep patients safe by drawing on additional support from our colleagues across the health system, both in terms of enabling safe discharges and providing support to keep patients out of hospital.
“As always, we would like to thank our patients and the public for their continued understanding. It’s important that anyone who needs urgent medical help continues to come forward – using 999 in life-threatening emergencies and 111 for other urgent care.
“Anyone who is unsure about where to go should call the NHS on 111, or visit 111.nhs.uk for advice.”
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