Hospital bosses praise staff after A&E surge

GEORGE Eliot Hospital bosses have praised staff for coping with a Bank Holiday Sunday surge in demand for emergency care.

It has been revealed that the spring Bank Holiday was busy at the Eliot , with numbers hitting the highest on Sunday, May 27.

It proved to be the busiest day over the Bank Holiday weekend as a whole and bosses at the hospital have been quick to praise the staff for coping with the numbers of patients going through the A&E doors.

A George Eliot Hospital Trust spokesperson said: “We saw a high number of patients visit A&E on Bank Holiday Sunday however, our staff did a fantastic job in treating them.”

Demand continues to be high and hospital chiefs have made a plea to people to only go to A&E in an emergency situation.

“We continue to ask patients to visit A&E only in an emergency and urge people to use alternative NHS services where appropriate such as NHS 111, local pharmacies and their GP,” the spokesperson added.

Back in April it was revealed that the hospital’s A&E performance had been severely hit by one of the ‘most challenging’ winters on record.

Four hour waiting targets for Accident and Emergency were missed, there were delays in ambulance hand-over times and patients were stuck on trolleys for more than 12 hours in February and March.

There has, according to the hospital, been sustained pressures on A&E since the end of last year and the latest figures are set to be revealed at a hospital board meeting on Wednesday.