NHS trust declares critical incident

An NHS Trust in the Black Country has declared a critical incident, due to the number of people needing urgent and emergency hospital care.

Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, which operates Walsall Manor Hospital, said it was seeing increased numbers of people requiring hospital treatment.

The trust's chief operating officer said this was predominantly people with respiratory conditions.

A critical incident is the highest alert level used by the NHS and allows bosses to take immediate steps to create capacity.

Will Roberts, chief operating officer at the trust, said: "We expect, and plan for, higher demand for our Urgent and Emergency Care services in winter.

"At Walsall Manor, we are currently seeing increased numbers of people requiring hospital care - predominantly with respiratory conditions – and this inevitably impacts patient flow elsewhere.

"But we are working with our teams in both the hospital and community, as well as with our partners, to support patients who can be cared for at home and to help patients to be safely discharged where appropriate."

Mr Roberts also stressed the importance of flu, Covid-19 and RSV vaccinations, as well as the help available from local services such as pharmacies and NHS 111.

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