A&E patients facing waiting times of up to 50 hours

Patients are facing wait times of up to 50 hours in the accident and emergency unit at Royal Liverpool University Hospital.

Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has declared a “serious incident” due to “exceptionally high demand” on services and urged people to only go to A&E in a genuine medical emergency.

The hospital said it was “extremely busy” amid a rising number of patients with flu and other respiratory problems.

A spokesperson for the trust said emergency measures had been put in place that would allow managers to call for additional help and make changes to ensure patient safety.

He said the serious incident was declared due to “the exceptionally high demands on our emergency department, particularly for flu and respiratory illnesses, and the number of patients”.

“This decision has been taken to support the safe care and treatment of our patients, which is our absolute priority,” he said.

The trust said managers are working with partners to ensure that people who are medically fit can leave hospital safely and at the earliest opportunity.

A spokesperson for the trust said staff were “working incredibly hard” to treat people as quickly as possible but warned that some patients “will be facing longer waits when we treat our sickest patients”. Will have to.”

Non-emergency patients are urged to use other services, such as a GP, local pharmacy or walk-in center instead.

“We have seen an increase in the number of people presenting to our emergency departments with flu and respiratory illnesses in recent weeks,” the spokesperson said.

For those who go to the emergency department, he asked patients and visitors to follow additional infection control measures to help prevent the spread of flu and norovirus.

“This includes practicing good hand hygiene, visiting our hospitals only when asked to do so, and wearing a mask in clinical areas,” the spokesperson said.