Don't have a heart attack or RTA in Southampton

From Save Bedford Hospital (AKA Barry Monk) today

Here is the text of a message sent to GPs in Southampton yesterday:

Dear Colleagues,

I have been asked to inform you urgently that Southampton University Hopital Trust is currently on ‘Black Alert’ with Ambulances queuing outside A/E and the Ambulance Service [SCAST] indicating that there is a 1.5 hour wait for even urgent requests for ambulances to be dealt with.

Clearly in this difficult situation we would request wherever possible that if measures can be taken by you to avoid hospital admission or A/E attendance for patients we would be most grateful.

I am conscious that communications of this nature are often deemed unhelpful, but I hope that you will take this circumstance into consideration, in consultation with patients and carers, in informing your clinical decisions this afternoon.

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At the Royal College of Nursing annual conference on Monday 28th April , Peter Carter, the RCN's general secretary, said a poll of more than 500 frontline nurses in accident and emergency departments showed 93% felt under undue pressure from a government target to discharge or admit patients within four hours.(BBC)

Three-quarters of those polled said patients were regularly admitted to inappropriate wards to meet the target.