The number of people attending The Royal Oldham Hospital's emergency department is soaring, and residents are being urged by the NHS to only attend A&E if it's a genuine emergency.
As demand for services increases, frontline staff are also in short supply, prompting a public appeal by senior doctors from the Northern Care Alliance NHS Group (NCA) to ease congestion.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr Chris Brookes, has asked the public to choose the right service for their condition to enable patients with the most serious conditions to access the care they need.
He said: “As evidenced in many other parts of the region and across the country we are currently experiencing severe and immense system pressures across our hospital sites, community services and local healthcare systems in Salford, Bury, Oldham and Rochdale. In partnership with colleagues and partners across our local healthcare systems and more widely in Greater Manchester we are currently doing everything we can to support our teams and ensure our patients are receiving safe and appropriate care.
“At the same time as these immense, unparalleled pressures we have some significant staffing pressures we are grappling with too. This is due to a number of factors. Although our NCA group is one of the best staffed organisations in GM in terms of vacancy levels and staff turnover, despite this, we are currently struggling with staff sickness and staff isolation although we expect this to be improved with the recent changes to guidance.
“We would ask the public that anyone considering visiting A&E who isn’t a genuine emergency case to think carefully before doing so and, where appropriate, to please seek information and help through NHS 111 and our local pharmacy networks who are there if you need immediate care that is not life threatening. Thank you for your support.”
Anyone who can’t get to their GP or local pharmacy for advice should call the NHS 111 line or go online to www.111.nhs.uk.
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