The hospital has brought in urgent measures as it faces “exceptionally high demand”
Ambulances outside the Royal Liverpool University Hospital(Image: Liverpool Echo)
The Royal Liverpool Hospital has declared a critical incident due to “exceptionally high demand” on services in its emergency department and the number of patients being admitted to wards.
On Monday, the ECHO reported that the Royal had activated its full capacity protocol due to the huge numbers of people coming into A&E and the struggle to discharge people to create space. The hospital, like many in our region, is facing huge pressures from soaring rates of flu and other respiratory illnesses.
This has now been escalated to a critical incident, which a hospital declares when the level of disruption results in the organisation losing its ability to deliver critical services, patients may have been harmed or the environment is not safe, requiring special measures and support from other agencies to restore normal operating functions.
A spokesperson for the University Hospitals of Liverpool Group, which oversees the running of the Royal, said: “Given the exceptionally high demands on our emergency department, especially with flu and respiratory illnesses, and the number of patients we have taken this action to support the safe care and treatment of our patients, which is our absolute priority.
“We have a comprehensive plan in place and are taking all the necessary actions to manage the challenging circumstances facing patients and colleagues currently. We are working with partner organisations to ensure those that are medically fit can leave hospital safely and at the earliest opportunity.
“Colleagues are working incredibly hard to treat people as quickly as possible, however some people will experience longer waits while we treat our sickest patients.
“If it is not a medical emergency please consider using other services, such as your GP, local pharmacy or walk-in centre. The NHS 111 service can be used to help identify the most appropriate service for you and help avoid long waits.”
The spokesperson added: “We have seen an increasing number of people with flu and respiratory illnesses in our emergency departments in recent weeks. If you are attending our EDs, patients and visitors should follow some additional infection control measures to help curb the spread of winter viruses such as flu and norovirus. This includes practicing good hand hygiene, only visiting the areas they need to in our hospitals and wearing masks in clinical areas if asked to do so.”
NHS hospitals across Merseyside are facing hugely challenging circumstances. This weekend the ECHO produced a special report covering the crisis in the health service, which you can read here.