Portsmouth's hospital and ambulance service are repeatedly blighted by critical emergencies

QA Hospital declared a critical incident on April 6 as both beds and the emergency department became filled, with non-emergency patients being told they would be turned away.

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust announced it would only treat those with life threatening conditions and injuries due to ‘extreme pressures’ on services across the hospital, and an ‘increasingly challenging staffing position’ as a result of sickness.

This led to ‘huge queues’ of ambulances outside A&E and patients being turned away unless in ‘life-threatening’ condition.

QA also declared an internal critical incident on December 13 in response to rising numbers of Covid patients in hospital, continuing pressure on A&E, and limited bed capacity.

South Central Ambulance Service had to declare a ‘critical incident’ on April 6 due to ‘extreme pressures’ put upon the service.

Following a number of problems days earlier at QA Hospital, where ambulances were unable to transfer patients in the emergency department, the ambulance service was forced to issue a warning that they would prioritise patients with ‘life-threatening’ conditions.

It comes amid problems at Queen Alexandra Hospital, where ambulances were unable to transfer patients in the emergency department, on April 4.

Another critical incident was declared by the ambulance service on October 30 as it said it was being overwhelmed by calls.

Dealing with ‘extreme pressures’ across its services, Scas said in a Facebook post: ‘Our staff and volunteers are working extremely hard to respond to calls but the volume is overwhelming.’