Patients urged to attend busy A&E alone

Patients have been urged to attend A&E alone if they need emergency care at hospitals in York and Scarborough due to overcrowding.

More than 450 people a day are currently attending the emergency departments, a spokesperson for York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said.

Hospital chiefs have urged people to come to hospital alone if possible to help free up "much needed space" for other patients.

Dr Ed Smith, emergency medicine consultant and deputy medical director at the Trust, said the "departments can often be overcrowded, with limited places to sit while waiting to be seen".

"While we understand it's appropriate for a friend or family member to accompany with a child or as a carer for example, if patients can attend alone, this will help free up much needed space for other patients", Dr Smith said.

"Our emergency departments are busy all year round but are exceptionally busy at the moment with a high volume of poorly patients attending."

People were also urged to consider using alternatives to A&E, such as urgent treatment centres or NHS 111, when it is not a life-threatening emergency.

The NHS Trust spokesperson said treatment centres can diagnose and deal with many of the common problems that bring people to A&E.

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.