Health officials in Leeds and Sheffield warn of intense pressure on NHS services

Health officials in Leeds and Sheffield have warned that services in the two cities are under the most intense pressure they have ever faced.

Extra A&E consultants have been brought into Leeds' hospitals to deal with the increasing number of patients at the city's emergency departments.

Meanwhile, Sheffield's Clinical Commissioning Group has sent an open letter to residents in the city asking them to avoid using A&E with health services under pressure.

The letter said that the group are aware that people are struggling to get in touch with GP surgeries at the moment, but said that practices are doing "all they can" to get through to and see as many patients as possible.

People are being asked to use the following services rather than visit A&E if they can't get a GP appointment:

  • GP Hubs, which are open outside of your usual GP opening times

  • The Minor Injuries Unit

  • The Walk-in Centre

The letter from the CCG said: "Surgeries in Sheffield have worked incredibly hard to provide services throughout the COVID-19 crisis and continue to do so.

"We are very proud of how practice staff have responded to these challenges to care for you. This is at the same time as giving 382,510 people, two doses of the lifesaving covid vaccination since December.

"For everyone’s safety and to ensure we continue to provide care, the way we respond to patients has had to change during the pandemic. England is still in the middle of a pandemic with very high rates of covid which are increasing in Sheffield day by day.

"At the current time, our practice teams are working hard to protect patients and their staff from the deadly COVID-19 virus and stop the spread."

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Dr Ollie Hart a GP in Sheffield said: "I can't speak for every single GP in the city but I know a huge number of them and I don't know any GP that's not working flat out at the moment.

"If they're not working in their practice, they're doing other medical jobs around it or they're just balancing their own family life as best they possibly can, but GPs when they're working they are absolutely full-on and I just don't think you can squeeze any more out of the time that we've got."

Health bosses in Leeds have said that the struggle to get GP appointments is fuelling the rise in the number of patients attending A&E.

Three extra wards have been opened in Leeds and a minor illness service set up to allow emergency departments to deal with the sickest people.

The government has said that it is providing extra funding to support the NHS during the winter months, but the Health Secretary has admitted that hospital waiting lists will increase in the short term.