Borders General Hospital is at full capacity with no available beds

Borders General Hospital is at full capacity and all of the beds are taken.

The Emergency Department is also extremely busy with a number of people requiring admission.

NHS Borders say that the situation is extremely challenging and that staff are working extremely hard to care for patients. People are also asked to ease pressures by using services wisely.

In a statement NHS Borders said: "Before you attend the Emergency Department please call NHS 24 on 111 first and they will signpost you to the right place to get the advice or care that you need.

"You may need to wait a while for your call to be answered or for a member of the team to call you back, but this can be done in the comfort of your own home. If you do need to be seen you may be given an appointment time to minimise the time you need to spend in the department. This also reduces pressure on our team."

In order to be able to free up as many beds as possible advice has also been given to people whose relatives are fit to be discharged from hospital.

NHS Borders issued this advice: "If your family member is fit to be discharged from hospital, please help us to get them home quickly when they are well enough by being ready and available to collect them or support their discharge to their next place of care.

"Please understand that we cannot always offer the preferred next place of care in the location that you would choose, and we may ask you to compromise. Working with us to accept this means that we can get the flow through our hospitals moving, and offer care to the maximum amount of people who need it."

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