Isle of Wight NHS declares critical incident

A warning has been issued about long delays at St. Mary's Hospital on the Isle of Wight after bosses declared a critical incident.

The hospital is full including the A&E department.

One of the big issues is so-called bed blocking - where patients are ready to go home but there is no care package in place.

Victoria Lauchlan, interim chief operating officer, said: "We currently have a high number of people in hospital beds who are waiting for onward care arrangements in the community.

"We are working as an island healthcare system to do everything we can to ensure we can help better support these people to be discharged home with a package of care or to care and nursing homes.

"At this time we are asking people to help by collecting their relatives or friends as soon as they are ready to leave and helping with any additional care and support at home."

Juliet Pearce, director of nursing, said: "To protect the life-saving services we provide we are asking for everyone’s support including using your local healthcare services appropriately.

"You can help by visiting 111 online or speaking to your pharmacist, GP or practice nurse in the first instance for support with coughs, colds, rashes and diarrhoea and vomiting.

"We are here if you need us but please be patient if you need to use our hospital services as our teams are doing all they can."

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