Bournemouth and Poole hospitals still under extreme pressure

Dr Tristan Richardson said 10-hour waits in emergency departments were unacceptable

A hospital trust has stood down its critical incident status but said it remained under "extreme pressure".

University Hospitals Dorset NHS Trust, which operates emergency departments in Bournemouth and Poole, declared the alert on 29 December.

Its medical director Dr Tristan Richardson said the situation was the worst he had experienced at the trust.

He said Covid, flu and an increase in sicker patients were all factors.

University Hospitals Dorset announced a critical incident on 29 December

In a video on the trust website, Dr Richardson said: "I've been working in Bournemouth and Poole for 23 years and this is the worst year that I've ever seen.

"And that's because of a number of different issues. Yes, we've got increasing Covid and flu but actually we've got sicker people coming into our hospitals.

"There's far too long a wait for people in our emergency departments waiting to be seen - over 10 hours and that's just not good enough."

Dr Richardson said some patients were occupying beds unnecessarily and appealed to relatives to assist with discharges from hospital.

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The trust also repeated its plea to people not to seek treatment for minor injuries at the emergency departments.

Tobias Ellwood, MP for Bournemouth East, said he visited Royal Bournemouth Hospital on Wednesday morning.

"The pressure on all staff was evident to see with wards completely full - patients were being treated in corridors and Covid numbers higher than this time last year," he said.

Despite the "incredible dedication at every level" he said there was "inadequate recruitment to fill significant vacancies" and added retention needed to be addressed.

However, he said the "biggest challenge" was the hospital's "inability to discharge patients into the community because of a lack of social care capacity".

"Currently around 250 beds are occupied by patients no longer requiring treatment," he added.

The trust has been contacted to respond to Mr Ellwood's claims.

Elsewhere in Dorset, a critical incident alert at Dorset County Hospital was stood down on 30 December and one at South Western Ambulance Service ended on Tuesday.

Hospital trusts 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 the redeployment of staff.