Newcastle hospital patients facing nine-hour A&E wait

Each morning sees patients waiting for beds at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, doctors say

Patients are waiting up to nine hours for a bed at a North East hospital as "exhausted" staff face unprecedented pressure, health chiefs say.

Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) has seen record numbers attending accident and emergency as well as a rising number of Covid and flu cases.

A backlog in surgery and treatments caused by the pandemic has also contributed to problems.

Staff are doing "the best they can", leaders added.

• Doctors call for Covid Plan B to start in England

• When will I get a booster jab?

• Cancer backlog could take a decade to clear

Dr Chris Gibbons, clinical director of medicine at Newcastle Hospitals Trust, told the BBC: "Our numbers have surpassed anything we'd see in the worst winters.

"The pressures on staff who provide emergency care are like nothing we've ever seen before.

"Most days we're starting with patients in the emergency department waiting for beds.

"Patients can be waiting for eight or nine hours, and waiting to be seen for four, five or six hours in some cases."

Dr Chris Gibbons warns patient waiting times are at a level not previously seen

On Wednesday, trust assistant chief executive Caroline Docking told a meeting of city leaders the stress on the RVI's accident and emergency department "doesn't show any sign of abating".

She said: "It really does feel like this period is the most pressured we have experienced throughout the pandemic. 

"Everybody in the organisation is very focused on doing the best they can, but that pressure is very clear and everybody is exhausted after working so hard for such a long period of time."

The number of Covid patients in the RVI and the city's Freeman Hospital has risen from around 50 to roughly 70 in recent weeks, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Prof Eugene Milne, the city's public health director, told the meeting of the City Futures Board the figure seemed "relatively stable but is a lot of beds occupied".