Critical incident declared at QA Hospital as Portsmouth hospitals NHS trust asks for ‘support’ from community

Non-emergency attendances will not be seen at the emergency department as the hospital faces an increasingly challenging staffing position as a result of sickness and the additional strain of the prolonged high temperatures.

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust says it is focusing its actions to prioritise the provision of critical emergency services, and that the safety of patients and staff remains top priority.

Dr John Knighton, medical director at PHU, said: ‘We need the local community to help us by helping patients get home as soon as possible and only using the Emergency Department for life threatening conditions and injuries.

‘Our immediate priority is to ensure there are beds available for our most seriously ill patients and we will be focusing on safely discharging as many patients as possible.

‘We ask that families and loved ones support us with this and collect patients as soon as they are ready to be discharged.

‘We also urge you to not attend the ED unless it’s an emergency.

‘Non-emergency attendances will not be seen and you will be redirected to the Urgent Treatment Centres at St Mary’s Hospital, Gosport and Petersfield.

‘We have limited space and we are only able to treat patients with life threatening conditions and injuries.’

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A critical incident is any localised incident where the level of disruption results in the organisation temporarily or permanently losing its ability to deliver critical services, patients may have been harmed or the environment is not safe requiring special measures and support from other agencies, to restore normal operating functions.

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust says it is reviewing the situation regularly and thanks the public for their support.

Earlier this year, it launched a campaign to ensure the local community can access the right care, in the right place, and in a timely way.

Find out more at porthosp.nhs.uk/news/knowwheretogo-for-urgent-medical-help/611714.

Figures show that almost 200 people in Portsmouth are in hospital with coronavirus.

The trust is caring for 179 coronavirus patients as of Tuesday (July 5), up from 113 on the same day the previous week (June 28), and a leap from the 89 such patients recorded on June 21.