A hospital has issued an urgent plea to the public over its accident and emergency department amid 'extremely busy' levels of attendance.
Wigan Infirmary's has put out the warning about its emergency department this evening (February 3). The hospital says 'we urge you not to attend', except in a small number of cases where conditions are serious or life-threatening.
The warning comes after months of unprecedented difficulties for A&Es across Greater Manchester and the rest of the country. It also comes ahead of yet more strikes next week, which will see nurses and ambulance strike on the same days - expected to pile more pressure on the system.
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In a tweet at around 8pm from Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching (WWL) Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, a hospital spokespeople warned: "Our A&E is extremely busy and we urge you not to attend, unless your condition is serious or life-threatening. Please choose the right healthcare for your needs. Visit http://111.nhs.uk for advice and support."
This Monday, February 6, and Tuesday, February 7, nurses at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust and Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (all hospitals) will go on strike.
Ambulance workers from the GMB and Unite Unions affecting North West Ambulance Service will be taking industrial action on Monday, with further strikes planned by staff from Unison union on Friday, February 10. A number of additional days of industrial action are planned for the rest of February and in March.
Physiotherapists from Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust and Stockport NHS Foundation Trust are striking on Thursday. Physiotherapists have agreed to staff life and limb critical services, which are mainly critical care and emergency on-call respiratory services with most other services and appointments affected.
Derogations, known as exemptions, provided to a member or service from taking part in strike action are made between employers and unions to ensure both safe staffing levels and which services are exempt from strike action. Some services may be cancelled to maintain staffing levels.
Speaking on the impending strike action, Silas Nicholls, chief executive of WWL and co-chair of Greater Manchester’s System Operational Response Taskforce said: “The NHS in Greater Manchester is working extremely hard to keep services running and to keep people safe during industrial action taking place this month and next.
“While strikes will cause inevitable disruption to services, local NHS teams have tried to maintain as many appointments as possible, so it is important people attend appointments as planned unless they have been contacted for it to be rearranged.
“Regardless of any industrial action taking place, it is important that patients who need urgent medical care continue to come forward, especially in emergency and life-threatening cases – when someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk.
“During previous strikes, the public responded as we’d asked them to and used our emergency services appropriately for very serious and life-threatening incidents. We are once again asking people to use NHS services wisely and to carefully consider whether they need our services now, especially as the impact of the industrial action will be felt across the NHS.”
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