Urgent action demanded from government to prevent Portsmouth’s crucial services being overwhelmed as both QA Hospital and ambulance service declare critical incidents

The News is demanding urgent action from the government, calling for more resources for hospitals and the ambulance trust to prevent crucial services consistently being overwhelmed.

It comes as South Central Ambulance Service (Scas) declared a critical incident due to pressures on its services, warning there could be delays in response times for less serious medical incidents.

This crisis followed a day after Queen Alexandra Hospital also declared a critical incident, with PHU medical director Dr John Knighton advising that patients only use the emergency department for life threatening conditions and injuries.

A combination of rising Covid levels, the ongoing heatwave, demand for health and care services and other factors have compounded challenges already being faced by dedicated health and care teams.

A first ever heatwave emergency response is reportedly being drawn up after the Met Office issued a rare amber weather warning for extreme temperatures.

Record-high temperatures are predicted to ravage the UK this weekend, with forecasters warning there is a 30 per cent chance that Sunday will be the hottest day the UK has ever seen.

A Cobra meeting was called on Monday (July 11) to discuss plans to deal with the rising temperatures amid fears about a possible national heat emergency.

Meanwhile, hospitals nationally saw a 33 per cent increase in admissions due to Covid last week, and figures are showing that almost 200 people in Portsmouth are in hospital with coronavirus.

Now, The News is petitioning the government to take urgent action to tackle Portsmouth's health service woes.

Joining this call for action, Stephen Morgan, Portsmouth South MP, said: ‘Twelve years of Conservative mismanagement has left our NHS services in crisis.

‘Despite the best efforts of our key workers, it is not the first time this year we’ve seen our vital local health services buckling under extreme pressure.

‘Patients are left for far longer than is safe and we cannot afford for this pattern to continue.

‘Instead of focusing on their own political distractions, the Tories’ first priority should be running the country and getting a grip of this.

‘Labour will recruit, train and retain the staff our NHS needs to reach patients in time. I will continue to monitor the situation closely.’

SEE ALSO: Critical incident declared at South Central Ambulance Service in Hampshire due to 'pressures' on services

Health leaders are also appealing to the community for support as teams continue to tackle sustained and increasing pressure on services across the board.

Dr Zaid Hirmiz, GP and clinical director at Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board, said: ‘I cannot emphasise enough how hard colleagues across Hampshire and Isle of Wight are working together to ensure our patients continue being able to access the care they need when they need it.

‘People can help by choosing the right service, keeping our Emergency Departments, ambulance service and urgent care appointments free for those who need them and considering where else they could get care, whether that’s their local pharmacy, an online consultation through their GP practice or contacting NHS 111 online.’