Shropshire hospitals trust declares another critical incident

Essential services remained fully open for anyone who needed them, the trust said

An NHS trust has declared another critical incident, as its hospitals "continue to experience intense pressure".

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust said it was pausing "a very limited number" of non-urgent services, after "exceptionally high" demand.

Urgent services, including cancer, and time-critical procedures will continue.

The trust, which apologised, asked people to attend appointments unless they were contacted to reschedule.

Chief Operating Officer Nigel Lee said the trust had seen a "continued high level of demand" and had been particularly busy since Saturday, especially in A&E.

• Listen: Chief Operating Officer Nigel Lee describes measures taken

Critical incidents are seen as a warning to the wider health system that measures are being taken to safeguard the most crucial areas of healthcare.

The hospital trust declared similar incidents in January and February.

Bed-blocking

It said the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford and the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital continued to experience intense pressure due to the "exceptionally high levels of demand for the services that we provide", as well as the ongoing impacts from Covid-19.

It added there were also "ongoing issues with regards to discharging medically fit patients".

Mr Lee said the hospitals had experienced challenges over staffing and with the wider health and social care system.

"Our teams are working extremely hard today... both in the hospital and in the community teams to make sure that we get as many patients who are safe to discharge absolutely back to their home or to a suitable place of care," he said.

After announcing the latest critical incident, the trust said it needed to ensure it could continue to prioritise services, despite taking every available option to free up capacity and create additional space.

The trust said despite the "challenges faced", essential services remained fully open for anyone who needed them.

It urged people to still seek urgent medical help if they needed it, but to only attend A&E for the most serious cases.