NHS pressures "worst" in history, North Yorkshire trust says

An NHS trust that runs hospitals across North Yorkshire says its facing it's experiencing the "worst pressures on emergency services in its history".

It has come amid mounting pressure on the Government over "intolerable and unbearable" strains on the health service.

A spokesperson for York and Scarborough Teaching Hospital said: "“Like hospitals across the country our emergency departments are under severe strain and in the last couple of days we have experienced the worst pressures on emergency services in our history."

“Increased staff absence and high numbers of patients waiting to be discharged who no longer need to be in hospital has had an impact on our emergency departments, resulting in patients waiting much longer for beds to become available."

On Tuesday, Downing Street said the Government has been "up front" with the public about the pressure the NHS faces this winter.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman acknowledged the current pressure on the health service is an "unprecedented challenge".

He added: "I think we have been up front with the public long in advance of this winter that, because of the pandemic and the pressures it's placed (on) the backlog of cases, that this would be an extremely challenging winter, and that is what we are seeing."

He told reporters the pandemic is among the biggest causes of the current pressures on the NHS, but also pointed to delayed discharges of medically fit people as a reason.

Asked if Prime Minister Rishi Sunak thinks the NHS is in crisis, his spokesman said: "This is certainly an unprecedented challenge for the NHS brought about, as I say, by a number of factors."

Senior doctors say the NHS is on a knife edge, with many A&Es struggling to keep up with demand and trusts and ambulance services declaring critical incidents.

Labour has criticised the Government's management of the health service, while the Liberal Democrats have called for Parliament to be recalled early.

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