Lincolnshire health and care system declares critical incident

Due to this high demand, and longer than usual waits for hospital beds and difficulties discharging patients, the system has declared a critical incident and clinicians are urging people to only call 999 or attend A&E departments for serious accidents and for genuine emergencies.

A spokesman for NHS Lincolnshire said: “Our aim is to prioritise patients with the highest level of need and ensure that we continue to be able to manage urgent and emergency care services safely. This will mean that some operations and outpatient appointments may be postponed to prioritise those patients with the most urgent clinical need. We regret that it has been necessary to take this step, but it is important that we focus on patients needing urgent and emergency care as a priority. If you are not contacted directly about an operation being postponed, please continue to attend your appointment as usual.

Industrial action is also taking place nationally this week, and the ambulance service action will impact within Lincolnshire, and NHS Lincolnshire is also reassuring the public that services remain open for anyone who needs them.

However, there are ways that you can help:

When you need urgent medical care but it’s not an emergency, please visit NHS 111 online or call NHS111 for advice Urgent treatment centres can help you get the care you need for dealing with the most common issues that people attend emergency departments for, including burn or a sprain. For other non-urgent cases, when you need medical advice and it’s not an emergency, please speak to your GP practice or a pharmacist – see details of your local pharmacy here If your relative is due to be discharged from hospital and needs to be collected, please do so as early as possible. Patients can often return home sooner if they are collected rather than waiting for hospital transport. This will help our teams and free up a hospital bed for someone waiting to be admitted. If you have concerns about Strep A, please see the latest guidance at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/strep-a/ which includes advice on what to do if your child is ill. Most strep A infections can be easily treated with antibiotics – your GP or pharmacist will be able to prescribe antibiotics if necessary. Please do not visit A&E to get antibiotics.

Anyone who is in mental health distress should call the Mental Health Crisis Line: 0800 001 4331, 24 hours a day.