Health leaders have issued an urgent appeal for people in B&NES to play their part and support their local hospital during what has been described as an “extraordinarily difficult” start to 2022.

As local health services do all they can to help people requiring treatment for Covid-19 and other illnesses, while dealing with soaring rates of Covid-related staff absence, those in charge of running our hospitals and other health services have said local people can really make a difference by:

• Helping loved ones who are well enough to leave hospital to recover at home or in another suitable care setting, meaning that

hospital beds are freed up.

• Only visiting Accident and Emergency departments or calling 999 in the case of a genuine life-threatening emergency.

Cara Charles Barks, Chief Executive of the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust said: “A&E departments in all of our hospitals are experiencing a significant level of demand and those who attend our emergency departments without very good reason are making it much harder for our teams to care for those patients who really do need emergency medical treatment.

“If you need medical help, please remember the NHS 111 online service can give advice, including to those who think that they might need to visit a minor injury unit to treat issues such as broken bones and burns, while pharmacists can help with minor complaints including coughs, colds, ear ache and rashes.

“If you can access the internet then the online option will be best suited for you by visiting: www.111.nhs.uk, otherwise please call the service on 111 and a trained advisor will help you. For more routine issues such as hangovers or an upset tummy please use your local pharmacy.

“Using the right service for you will mean that our A&E departments can respond rapidly for those people who need emergency treatment.”

On New Year’s Eve the RUH declared an internal critical incident because of rising numbers of Covid patients, high levels of

demand for beds and rising levels of sickness among staff. The hospital has suspended visiting until further notice.

For more information about local health care services and when to use them, visit: https://bswccg.nhs.uk/your-health/hospital

-care