Southend University Hospital seeing high volumes of patients
05 January 2016
Health Care
Southend University Hospital is currently seeing a very high number of patients visiting the emergency department and a higher than usual number of acutely ill patients requiring a hospital bed.
The trust has made the decision to cancel some elective
operations and outpatient clinics; this does not affect emergency
or cancer related surgery. Patients will be notified in person
should their surgery or appointment be postponed and should
continue to attend their appointments as arranged unless contacted
by the hospital.
However, as is the picture across the region, we remain under
pressure due to high levels of emergency attendances since Boxing
Day and on New Year's Day we received 112 ambulance attendances,
the highest ever.
To assist the hospital in dealing with the situation, the trust
would like to remind members of the public to only visit the
accident and emergency department if they are seriously unwell or
critically injured.
Choking, chest pain, blacking out, blood loss and fractures are
all considered emergencies, and those with symptoms like this
should not hesitate to visit their local A&E department.
Sue Hardy, chief executive at Southend University Hospital,
said: "The hospital is currently extremely busy dealing both with
the high number of patients coming through our doors and the number
of very ill patients who need to be admitted to hospital.
"The emergency department is very busy and we have to warn
patients that those attending with 'non-urgent' conditions will
wait much longer than usual as patients are prioritised according
to how unwell they are.
"We would like to remind anyone who is unsure of the best course
of action to always ring NHS 111 for health advice 24 hours a day,
seven days a week, or to speak with your GP or pharmacist."