Non-virus patients 'at risk' over hospital avoidance

The coronavirus outbreak has led to a drop in the number of people going to A&E departments across Yorkshire

Seriously ill people across Yorkshire are putting their lives at risk by not getting help because of coronavirus fears, health chiefs have said.

In Sheffield, the number of potential heart attack and stroke sufferers seen by medics has halved since the crisis.

Doctors in North Yorkshire have also expressed concern over a drop in the number of children being brought in.

It comes as figures for attendance at A&E units in Yorkshire fell throughout March.

Medics at Sheffield Teaching NHS Foundation Trust said some patients had "left their symptoms to go on for far too long" because they did not want to overload the NHS or feared they would catch the virus.

Dr Jennifer Hill, medical director for operations, said: "We would rather people who have serious symptoms take action straight away to allow us to provide the right treatment in a timely way and prevent full-blown life-threatening scenarios like a severe stroke, sepsis or heart attack."

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NHS statistics show visits to Sheffield's A&E departments were down by 28% in March compared to the previous month.

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There has been a 25% reduction at emergency departments at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and a 18% drop at Mid Yorkshire NHS Hospitals, which runs the emergency department at Pinderfields in Wakefield.

NHS England said, the trend, which was mirrored nationally, was likely to be "a result of Covid-19 response".

Meanwhile, GPs in North Yorkshire said while it was currently confusing to know what to do if people were unwell, they should not put themselves at risk.

Dr Charles Parker said: "We need to ensure people are still accessing help, particularly [those] with serious illnesses as these conditions have not gone away just because of coronavirus.

"NHS 111, hospitals and GPs are still providing the same care they have always done."