North East Ambulance declares critical incident amid 'significant delays'

NEAS urged people to call only for life-threatening emergencies.

The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) has declared a critical incident due to "unprecedented pressure" affecting its ability to respond to patients.

More than 200 people experienced "significant delays" with crews also held up at hospitals, it said.

On Monday NEAS urged people to call only for life-threatening emergencies.

Chief operating officer Stephen Segasby said this had allowed it to "focus our resources on those patients most in need".

Declaring a critical incident also "communicates the pressures we are under to our health system partners who can provide support", he said.

Cancel training

The service said patients not facing a life-threating emergency should use the 111 service, speak to their GP or visit a pharmacist.

NEAS has been operating at its highest level of operational alert since 5 December.

Declaring a critical incident allowed it to instigate measures to help, it said.

These included seeking assistance from third-party providers, cancelling training to allow for the redeployment of clinical staff, and no longer taking bookings for urgent, non-emergency transport.

A region-wide ambulance strike is due to take place on Wednesday.