Queen Alexandra Hospital declares 'critical incident'

Queen Alexandra Hospital is experiencing "extreme pressures on services"

A hospital has declared a "critical incident" because of a high number of patients and staff sickness.

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust said Queen Alexandra Hospital was experiencing "extreme pressures on services" as a result.

Its Emergency Department (ED) is full and it is only able to treat patients with life-threatening conditions and injuries.

The trust said it was prioritising critical, emergency services.

It added: "The safety of our patients and our staff remains our top priority."

Because of the limited space all other cases will not be seen and will be redirected to the urgent treatment centres at St Mary's Hospital, Gosport and Petersfield.

The trust advised people not to call 999 except for serious or life-threatening emergencies as the ambulance service was "also under intense pressure and operating under a critical incident".

A spokesperson said: "Our immediate priority is to ensure there are beds available to admit our most seriously ill patients into and will be focusing on safely discharging as many patients as possible.

"We ask that families and loved ones support us with this and collect patients as soon as they are ready to be discharged."

The situation will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, they said.

In February detailed plans for a £58m expansion of the ED was unveiled to increase capacity and allow staff to work "more efficiently".

Medical director Dr John Knighton told city councillors in September that patient demand was "outstripping capacity" at the site.