York Hospital faces surge in ice-related injuries
- Published
One councillor urged people to take care after a bus skidded on ice in York on Monday
A hospital has had to create extra capacity to cope with the number of people who have been injured due to slipping on ice in recent days.
York Hospital said it had referred about 40 patients requiring specialist treatment for broken bones.
The hospital, which is currently treating 94 patients with Covid-19, urged people to stay at home and avoid unnecessary journeys.
A Met Office yellow "be aware" warning for ice, external remains in force for the area.
A spokesperson for the hospital told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the accident and emergency department had been "extremely busy" over the past few days.
"There has been an increase in people attending A&E with injuries related to slips and falls due to the current icy weather.
"The emergency department has currently referred around 40 patients requiring specialist treatment for broken bones and related injuries and extra capacity has been created to care for these patients."
Primary routes, including many of the city's main roads, had been gritted six times and footpath routes had been gritted three times since 1 January, according to City of York Council.
The authority urged people to consider the weather before leaving home.
Bill Manby, the authority's head of highways, said winter maintenance aimed to allow the safe movement of traffic, pedestrians and cyclists on major routes and to keep accidents to a minimum.
However, he said there were occasions when grit was less effective.
"Some circumstances affect when and how we spread grit, including traffic, rain that can wash away grit, unexpected changes and temperatures below -5C," he said.
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