Critical incident declared at Surrey hospital

A hospital in Surrey has declared a critical incident in order to "continue to deliver safe care to those who need it most", a spokesperson said.

All patients and visitors at East Surrey Hospital in Redhill are required to wear a face mask in clinical areas due to an increase in respiratory infections.

Surrey and Sussex Healthcare Trust, which operates the hospital asked those with respiratory conditions, including COVID-19 to not visit unless for a booked appointment.

The spokesperson said that "despite the challenges faced, essential services remain open for anyone who needs them".

Ed Cetti, chief medical officer at the trust, said: "Unfortunately, this does mean we may need to reschedule some non-urgent operations, treatments and outpatient appointments to accommodate those patients with the most urgent clinical need."

Meanwhile, emergency departments across the South East are under "huge pressure", with some patients spending "days" on beds in corridors.

The BBC has been told of one patient at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton who had been on a trolley in a corridor for four days, after first being seen by A&E doctors on Saturday morning.

At East Surrey Hospital a patient's family contacted the BBC with pictures of patients being cared for in corridors.

Dr Maggie Davies, chief nurse at the trust which oversees the Royal Sussex, apologised and said: "The experience of some people in our emergency departments is not good enough, and not what they have a right to expect."

The NHS is urging people to consider their options before going to the emergency department. It said emergency departments should only be for life-threatening emergencies.

University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust's Dr Davies said: "Our A&E teams need to focus on those who need them most - if you need help but it isn't an emergency, then you should be contacting urgent treatment centres, calling 111 or out of hours GPs, and pharmacies.

"There is huge pressure in A&E, and this is being added to by high numbers of people attending with flu, Covid, and norovirus."

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