Manchester Evening News readers have been sharing their experiences of trying to get help from an under-pressure NHS this Christmas. In a stark message NHS bosses in Greater Manchester have said demand is ' been beyond anything [they] have experienced before'.
The NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership pleaded with people only to call 999 or attend A&E in an 'life-threatening' emergency following a surge in patients needing care after Christmas. On Tuesday, NWAS urged patients to ring 111 or seek help online instead of calling 999.
Today (Thursday), health bosses issued another 'urgent plea to the public' over hospital A&E departments after what they described as 'unprecedented levels of attendance'.
Amid reported A&E waits of 13 hours in Greater Manchester, they said staff sickness and an 'increased prevalence of flu' had led to long delays both for patients to be seen in hospitals and for ambulances to attend people's homes.
READ MORE: Health chiefs issue 'urgent plea' to the public over A&E amid 'unprecedented levels of attendance'
NWAS earlier tweeted: "Please remember ringing 999 does not guarantee that you'll receive an ambulance, or that you'll be seen at hospital any faster. If you need urgent medical help, use NHS 111 online - you will get the answers you need faster than if you were to call."
Last Wednesday thousands of ambulance workers, paramedics and others in England and Wales went on strike, leaving the NHS unable to respond to many 999 calls. A second planned walk out by ambulance workers in the GMB union due to take place today (December 28) has been suspended.
Unison members in the North West are to stage two fresh strikes in the increasingly bitter dispute over pay and staffing on January 11 and 23. But even before the strike action pressure on emergency services in England was greater than ever.
Data from NHS England for the week to Sunday, December 18 showed that delays getting ambulance patients into hospital for treatment are higher this month than during any previous winters. Four in 10 ambulances arriving at A&E waited at least 30 minutes before unloading patients - up from three in 10 the previous week. The target is 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, calls to 111 have increased to near-record levels as parents seek advice about strep A and the number of patients with flu in hospitals in England has gone up by two-thirds in one week.
On Wednesday night at least 10 ambulances were pictured waiting outside 'extremely busy' Bolton Hospital. Bolton NHS Foundation Trust said the emergency department was experiencing 'extremely high levels of activity' with waiting times expected to be at least four hours.
Elsewhere in the region, Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust also warned of 'very busy' emergency departments, with A&E only for 'serious and life-threatening conditions'.
Amid the gridlock Manchester Evening News readers have been sharing their experiences of trying to access care over Christmas. Writing on the M.E.N. Facebook page at 4pm yesterday (Wednesday) Belinda Blanshard said: "Calling 111 is not great either... we have waited from 5.40 this morning till just to get a call back!
"Appointment still two hours away! The demand is too high for the service to cope and A&E is even worse!
"People will be dying unnecessarily something needs to happen and fast! They were saying they have not long since cleared all yesterday's calls!!!!"
Carl Cleaver wrote: "My son is really feeling unwell and has been for a number of weeks but no GP appointments. Called 111 this morning at 8am after attempting to call GP after he has worsened.
"Got through after 40 minutes and told we had a slot to see emergency pharmacist at 10am. Went there and pharmacist agreed he needs to see a doctor so referred him to out of hours emergency GP told us to go home and await a call which maybe a few hours.
"Just got a call at around 3.40pm to say he has been referred but no space and no idea how long it will be before he can be seen and just to wait for a phone call which maybe tonight it maybe tomorrow or who knows when."
Vicki Louise said: "Don't bother with 111 either. 13 hours I waited yesterday to get a callback from a clinician, a nurse, not a GP, for my 10 year old son. Prescription given finally and no pharmacy open at all.
"Waited until the morning to get the medication to find out it is then not available in the chemists as they are short on stock, so another number of hours to track some down."
Corinna Jennings said: "111?? I was on hold for 3 hours trying to get through last week. Then had to wait 26 hours for a nurse call back!
"People are dying and the government are doing f*** all. This country is broken. Violent crime going through the roof, no social care system to speak of, NHS is on its knees and judicial system that's the laughing stock of the world! One of the most powerful countries in the world?? Don't make me laugh."
And Leanne Wilson wrote: "I took my son to A&E yesterday for second time since October. Had lots of GP visits after having lots of coughing high and low temperature, tonsils swelling since beginning of this month, three sets of antibiotics given
"Phoned 111 because he woke up worse today to be told i'll get a phone call, not long got a text saying due to high demands my call has been cancelled."
But others praised the service they received. Nichola Louise wrote: "Really grateful for the 111 service this Xmas!!! Called yesterday got antibiotics this morning. May have taken longer than usual but still a good service."
A spokesperson for North West Ambulance Service said: "Nationally, 27 December was the busiest day on record for NHS 111 with over 150,000 calls received. Our staff were working very hard to ensure calls were answered and clinical call backs arranged, but unfortunately due to the exceptionally high demand, these took longer that we would have liked.
"We encourage people to use 111.nhs.uk online first if they need medical advice, and only call 999 in the event of a life-threatening emergency."
In a statement last week the Department for Health and Social Care said its number one priority this winter 'was to keep patients safe and ensure they can access care when and where they need it'.
A DHSC spokesperson said 7,000 new real, and virtual, hospital beds were being created, and it was investing £500m to speed up the process of discharging patients from hospital into social care, recruiting more call handlers and upgrading ambulance vehicles.
the Manchester Evening News has been told pressure is now being felt at GP surgeries. One patient said: "The NHS pressure is bad in primary care, too. I've had several panicky messages from my GP surgery over last few days, including this morning, saying they can only deal with urgent medical problems and asking people not to call."
Read more of today's top stories here.
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