Wigan's Royal Albert Edward Infirmary declares critical incident

The Royal Albert Edward Infirmary has faced "unprecedented attendances" at A&E

A hospital has declared a critical incident due "immense pressure" on its services.

The public has been asked not to attend A&E at the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in Wigan "unless you have a life or limb-threatening emergency".

In a statement the hospital trust said A&E was full and it was working with partners to discharge patients who were ready to leave hospital.

The trust added the safety of patients and staff was its "top priority".

In a statement on its website, Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh (WWL) Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it was"currently facing exceptionally high levels of occupancy, growing pressure on our services".

This was due to "unprecedented attendances at our emergency department".

'Increasing pressure'

"We are also seeing ongoing challenges in discharging our patients who are well enough to leave hospital, which has a direct impact on the number of beds available for patients who are in desperate need of medical attention," a spokesman for the hospital said.

"As a result of this ongoing pressure, the trust has escalated its position to a critical incident, which means WWL can take additional action to maintain safe services for our patients and tackle this increasing pressure.

"The safety of our patients and our staff is always our top priority and we are working through who needs our help as quickly and as safely as we can.

"We must prioritise treatment for patients with life and limb-threatening conditions and injuries."

The trust asked people to help ease pressures by collecting family and friends from hospital as soon as they are ready to be discharged and to visit NHS 111 online, contact a GP or a local pharmacy for advice if their condition was not life-threatening.

In December the trust declared a critical incident due to pressures on its emergency department.