Isle of Wight NHS Trust declares critical incident

Isle of Wight NHS Trust says it made the declaration after "sustained pressure" on its services

A hospital trust has declared a critical incident due to "sustained pressure" on its services.

Isle of Wight NHS Trust said it can only treat patients with life-threatening conditions and injuries at St Mary's Hospital in Newport.

The pressure has been caused by high demand and "difficulties in discharging people into social care", it said.

The hospital's emergency department was full on Friday, with "very limited space" to treat patients.

Steve Parker, the trust's medical director, said: "Our immediate priority is to ensure we can care for the most seriously ill patients and we are focusing on discharging safely 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."