Dorset County Hospital stands down critical incident after one day

Dorset County Hospital warned the New Year period could put services under more strain

A main hospital has stood down its critical incident status a day after the alert was imposed.

However, Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester said it remained under "extreme pressure".

It warned the New Year weekend could put services under more strain.

Elsewhere in Dorset, critical incidents remain in force at South Western Ambulance Service and University Hospitals Dorset NHS Trust, which runs hospitals in Bournemouth and Poole.

In a statement, Dorset County Hospital NHS Trust said: "We continue to focus on making sure our patients are safe and keeping our critical services running.

'Collect relatives'

"Our teams remain incredibly busy and we are also about to enter another bank holiday weekend, which could add to the pressures we are already facing."

On Thursday, the trust said staffing issues were affecting services.

It renewed appeals to people not to visit the emergency department with minor injuries and to be ready to collect relatives who are fit to be discharged from hospital.

Hospital trusts can declare a critical incident when they are worried they are on the brink of not being able to provide critical services, such as emergency care.

It paves the way for measures to be taken, such as redeployment of staff.