Weston General Hospital: Ambulances turned away in critical incident

Ambulances were turned away over three days this week after health bosses declared a critical internal incident.

Patient numbers at Weston General Hospital emergency department exceeded capacity from 7 August to 9 August.

In response, University Hospitals Bristol & Weston NHS Trust (UHBW) ordered a "divert" to other A&Es, a standard practice used as a last resort.

Managers reminded people to use NHS 111 for non life-threatening issues.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, chief operating officer Dr Mark Smith said the situation put "enormous pressure" on the Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) in terms of ambulance queues.

"We had to declare a critical internal incident to try to manage the situation which persisted this morning with 25 people still in the ED (emergency department), which is unusual after several days of diverting," he said.

"Patient safety is our priority.

"Like many hospitals across the country we are under sustained pressure in our emergency departments and we would like to apologise to any of our patients who have experienced a longer wait."

New chief executive Eugine Yafele said the traditional summer lull in patients had not materialised, causing a continued high demand on services.

"On the emergency care pathway, we still are under pressure across the children's hospital and indeed the BRI and Weston General," he said.

He said UHBW was not far from getting back to the point from before the pandemic when no-one was waiting longer than two years for routine surgery.

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