'Critical incident' declared by Black Country hospital trust due to pressures on A&E
A hospital trust in the Black Country has declared a "critical incident" due to exceptionally high numbers of patients waiting in A&E departments for treatment.
Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, which runs Sandwell General Hospital and Birmingham City Hospital, issued the warning to staff on Wednesday.
It comes after health leaders made the same declaration on December 20 citing "immense pressure" on services at both of its hospitals – which was later eased.
Now another warning has been issued – due to the trust being "stretched to capacity" – with more staff and targeted support being brought in to help the situation.
The update, sent around to workers at the trust, said: "We are currently seeing immense pressure on our services and have had to declare a critical incident at our trust due to exceptionally high numbers of patients waiting in our A&E departments at each of our hospital.
"Colleagues are working tirelessly to provide the best care possible under these challenging circumstances, but it is clear that we are stretched to capacity. We are doing everything we can to manage the situation, including calling in additional staff and offering targeted support to those departments under pressure."
The notice urged staff to cancel all non-essential business and meetings which do not have an impact on the care they provide.
