'Major incidents' declared at English hospitals

Major incidents have been declared at a number of hospitals in England as medical staff struggle to cope with patient numbers.

Gloucestershire Royal and Cheltenham General implemented the emergency measure for the second time in three weeks.

Hospitals in North Yorkshire, Surrey and Staffordshire have also declared a major incident.

People have been urged to only use A&E departments for genuine emergencies.

Ann Marie Morris, clinical director for emergency medicine at Royal Stoke University Hospital, said: "As part of our plans to manage high demands on NHS services, clinical teams have taken the decision to postpone some operations to ensure they can deal with acute and emergency care such as accidents, medical and surgical emergencies.

"Clinicians have not taken this decision lightly, and every effort will be made to reschedule their treatment as soon as we can."

'Every ward full'

Mike Proctor, deputy chief executive of York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust which runs Scarborough Hospital, said: "I'm seeing pressures in the system that I have never experienced before.

"When I came to the hospital this morning every ward was full, every escalation area we put beds into were full of patients.

"In addition to that there were 18 patients in the A&E department that had to be cared for on beds, because there were no beds in the hospital wards for them to go to.

"Whilst those patients were cared for properly, you get to a stage where if you carried along that line the emergency department would cease to function, which is why we had to do something different."

Analysis: Nick Triggle, BBC Health Correspondent

If a hospital declares a major incident, it is a sign that things have got exceptionally busy and special measures are needed to cope.

This can happen in winter when demands are high, but also at other times, for example if there is a major road accident. The declaration allows hospital bosses to call in extra staff to help them cope.

But what is also important is what steps they take in terms of restricting the flow of patients into the hospital. One of the first measures is to start postponing routine activity, such as knee and hip operations or outpatient appointments. This is not uncommon.

More unusual is diverting ambulances so no emergency patients arrive. In effect, that closes the hospital. However, this is only used as a last resort as it increases demands on nearby sites.