UPDATE: Doctor's warning as hospital on black alert

A Sussex hospital on black alert has told people to use alternative health services.
Royal Sussex County Hospital is on black alertRoyal Sussex County Hospital is on black alert
Royal Sussex County Hospital is on black alert

A spokesperson for Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton said the reason it was on black alert was because of an influx of patients.

“We have had lots of people coming in the front door and not enough people discharged, therefore the hospital has struggled to flow patients through the emergency department to hospital beds.”

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She added that staff were working as hard as they could to deal with the backlog, and gave the following advice to patients.

“Our advice is the same as always: please only use A&E for genuine emergencies, and if there are alternative health services you can access, please use those instead.”

The Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath is on green alert.

This comes after reports that all coastal hospitals in Sussex are on black alert.

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A spokesperson for Worthing Hospital said that it was on black alert this morning, but is not any more.

Dr George Findlay, Medical Director at Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Worthing Hospital and St Richard’s in Chichester are very busy and we are urging people to only use our A&E departments if they are seriously unwell or critically injured.

“This allows our highly skilled emergency teams to treat the large number of very sick patients who need our care the most, as quickly as possible.

“Unfortunately, it’s likely that if you are not an emergency then you will have to wait a long time. If in any doubt how to access care please call NHS 111, your GP or visit a pharmacy.

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“We would also like to apologise to patients whose planned care procedure or treatment has been postponed and thank them for their understanding while our teams work hard to prioritise those people in most need at this time.”

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