North East Ambulance declares second critical incident

NEAS urged people to call only for life-threatening emergencies

The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) has declared its second critical incident in nine days - affecting its ability to respond to patients.

The service said it had been forced to act after more than 100 patients experienced "significant delays" waiting for ambulances.

People are being urged to only call for life-threatening emergencies.

Shane Woodhouse, NEAS strategic commander, said crews were focussing on patients "most in need."

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

Mr Woodhouse said: "This is the second time in nine days that we have declared a critical incident due to the unprecedented pressure we are seeing across the health system.

"Declaring a critical incident alerts our health system partners to provide support where they can and means we can focus our resources on those patients most in need."

He added that patient transport services would only operate for essential journeys such as dialysis, chemotherapy, oncology and heart care appointments.

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

The service said declaring a critical incident allowed it to instigate measures to help including 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.