Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham declares critical incident following extreme pressures on its services

When a hospital declares a critical incident, it means that the hospital staff are being put under extreme pressure due to an increase in patients.

Queen Alexandra Hospital, located in Cosham, declared the critical incident on December 12 and the Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust is asking that people without life threatening injuries and conditions should not attend the emergency department unless it is essential.

In a statement the Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust said: “We are seeing high numbers of unwell people through our Emergency Department and the hospital is full of patients needing our care. This means we are seeing delays for both patients arriving by ambulance and those walking into ED, that are much longer than our patients would expect. This is not acceptable, and we apologise to our patients and community.

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“Our emergency services remain open and we will still be here for people who have life threatening injuries and illnesses, but there will be long waits for other injuries and conditions. Everyone who attends the Emergency Department but doesn’t need to be treated there will be redirected to an alternative service.

"We are working closely with our partners across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight who are also taking actions to provide extra capacity and support in their services.”

People are being advised to seek medical care and treatment from their GP or local pharmacy if their condition or injury is not life threatening. Alternatively, call 111 for advice on where to access medical assistance.