Ayrshire people are today being urged to ‘think again’ about attending any of the region’s A&E departments.
NHS Ayrshire & Arran said it is experiencing “extreme pressures” and has issued an appeal for patients to ‘reconsider’ a trip to A&E unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Chief executive Claire Burden said: “Our urgent and unscheduled care services in both University Hospitals Ayr and Crosshouse are under extreme pressure at this time.
“This is due to a combination of staff absence across the whole health and care system, high occupancy levels in our hospitals, some waits for transfers of care into the community, including high volumes of frail and ill patients requiring complex care.
“These combined pressures can result in longer waits and I am sorry when this happens.”
Ms Burden also warned that there could be “longer waits” for telephone consultations; longer waits for assessment or reviews within primary and community care; “delays” to assessment in the emergency departments and their combined assessment units; delays to “admission to wards” and delays when "planning a discharge."
In a direct appeal, Ms Burden continued: “Our dedicated staff are working tirelessly to try and improve the situation under challenging conditions.
“We ask for your patience and support in these matters.
“We continue to triage patient presentations and will prioritise our patients based on clinical need.”
She added: “We are asking that members of our community do stop, think, and ask, ‘Is it an emergency situation?’ If it is an emergency, come straight to the emergency department. If not, do consider all the alternatives.”
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