Man with severe hand injuries turned away during 'critical incident' at Royal Cornwall Hospital

A man with severe hand injuries says he was turned away from A&E amid a "critical incident" at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Treliske.

Joe Thomas claims he was unable to access treatment over the weekend, 20 and 21 January, because staff at the hospital told him it was at "full capacity".

He has now received care today, Monday 22 January, although the hospital remains under significant pressure and people are being urged to seek help elsewhere.

Mr Thomas said: "I've sustained an injury to both my hands, I've de-gloved my right finger, and I was unable to get any medical attention for several hours from the paramedic service in my home town of Bodmin.

"I decided to make my own way down to Treliske and this is where I was contacted by a nurse or a doctor and she said that they had now found me and they appreciated my injuries.

"However, they were going to ask me to return back home because they were at full capacity.

"I explained that I had de-gloved my right finger and sustained a similar wound to my left hand and they stated that they were 'happy' with the risks and that they needed me to return back home because the NHS couldn't quite cope."

A spokesman from the Royal Cornwall Hospital said they are investigating Joe's claims.

Chris Reid, the chief medical officer at the Cornwall Integrated Care Board, said: "We've had sustained pressure across our system for the last few days and of course, it's a combination of winter, there's been a recent cold spell, and these things just all add up just to put us into a situation where we felt the need to call a critical incident.

"We want this to end as soon as possible. We've just reviewed the situation. Until we've had a period where we feel the pressure has lessened and stayed that way we'll remain in a critical incident so at this point we're expecting this to stay until tomorrow morning (Tuesday 23 January)."

The latest advice is to use GP surgeries, pharmacies and minor injury units to avoid overwhelming an already stretched service.