Bristol's Southmead Hospital declares critical incident after 'extremely' high patient numbers

Southmead Hospital in Bristol has declared a critical incident because of "extremely high patient numbers."

Patients are being urged to only attend A&E if they require critical care, as they may have to wait more than eight hours to be seen.

The hospital declared the critical incident on 3 December, and issued a statement alerting patients. It reads: "We have today declared a Critical Incident at Southmead Hospital due to extremely high patient numbers across all areas of our hospital.

"Please do not attend our Emergency Department unless you require critical, lifesaving care.

"If you attend our Emergency Department with a non-life-threatening condition, you may wait more than eight hours to be seen and/or be sent to a more appropriate service elsewhere.

"Please consider using alternative services, such as your local pharmacy or NHS 111.

"If your loved one is in hospital and ready to go home, please help them by supporting their discharge home as soon as possible.

"We are incredibly grateful to our staff for their continued efforts in caring for patients during this particularly busy time."