Critical incident declared at Winchester and Basingstoke hospitals

The decision has not been taken lightly, according to the trust

Two hospitals have declared a critical incident, forcing patients to find medical help elsewhere.

Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester and Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital made the decision after experiencing "sustained pressures" on services.

There was no capacity to admit further patients, Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) said.

People have been asked to only attend for life-threatening illnesses.

The region's NHS Integrated Care Board said hospital beds were "full" and that there was also an "extremely high" attendance in the emergency departments.

It has urged those needing medical assistance to call 111 or visit an urgent treatment centre.

Only those with life-threatening illnesses or injuries will be treated at the hospitals in Winchester and Basingstoke

In an effort to make more room for those needing emergency treatment, some elective treatments could be cancelled, it added.

In a statement, it said: "As part of the critical incident response we will be looking for support across the health system to discharge patients who no longer require acute care, and limit the number that need to come to the acute hospital."

Other services in the county have recently declared critical incidents for similar reasons.

On 3 January, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust began redirecting non-urgent cases from Queen Alexandra Hospital to other services due to "pressure". It was the third time in three months.

Last week, South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) declared a critical incident after receiving a large number of calls for "severe" cases.

Pressures from 999 calls were compounded by handover delays at hospitals across the region, SCAS added.

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