Critical incident at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth stood down but patients in non life-threatening conditions will still be turned away from A&E

As reported, bosses at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust (PHU), which runs Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham declared a critical incident on April 6 amid ‘extreme pressures.’

This status has now been withdrawn, however, residents are being urged to only attend the hospital when absolutely necessary.

In a statement PHU said: ‘Although we have been able to stand down the PHU critical incident, we anticipate the pressures on the urgent and emergency care services will continue through the Easter period and the Portsmouth and south east system will continue to run in incident command to maintain the focus and responsiveness required from all partners to serve our population. This will mean:

‘People arriving at the Emergency Department (ED) who don’t need emergency care will be redirected to other, appropriate services to ensure patients experiencing life threatening emergencies or illness can be cared for in a timely way.

‘Patients will be discharged from hospital when they have completed their acute care’

‘Relatives and carers are asked to ensure their loved one can be discharged quickly to help free up beds for those who need them.’

Visit porthosp.nhs.uk.