A SURREY hospital has declared a critical internal incident – with operations and outpatient appointments cancelled.
The trust which runs East Surrey Hospital issued a plea for people to “think” before turning up to A&E.
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A spokesman for the hospital, in Redhill, said the issue was not related to the fuel crisis, or any spike in Covid cases.
He added the hospital was facing unprecedented demand and is extremely busy.
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (Sash), which runs the hospital, issued a statement saying: “Sash is really busy at the moment. We’re urging you to think before going to A&E.
“Minor injuries units can treat most urgent but not life-threatening injuries. If you’re unsure where to go please call 111 who can point you in the right direction. Help us care for those who need it.”
Trust chief executive Michael Wilson said he hoped pressure would ease quickly and appointments could return to normal.
Mr Wilson said on Tuesday: “Due to extremely high demand on our services we have postponed outpatient appointments and some elective surgery while our doctors and nurses pull out all the stops to provide safe care for our patients.
“We expect these services to resume in the next 24 to 48 hours.”
Unaffected is critical and cancer surgery.
Anyone who is not contacted by the hospital should attend their appointment as normal.
Latest available figures show that 10 coronavirus patients were admitted to the hospital in the week to September 19.
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