A&E doctors reveal they're already facing winter pressures

Doctors have revealed to Hits Radio that they're already dealing with winter pressures in A&Es across Greater Manchester.

We've been speaking to one doctor who says they have already had patients waiting more than 24 hours to be seen.

It comes as health bosses urge people with things like colds and flu to stay away from hospital, because it is not an emergency and can put vulnerable patients at risk.

It comes as the NHS across England is warned it needs 10,000 more hospital beds to deal with a predicted rise in people going to A&E this winter.

The British Medical Assication forecasts that, between January and March, the number of admissions will go up 100,000 from last year, to 1.6 million.

At the same time, the number of people waiting four hours at emergency departments could increase to more than one million.

Jon Rouse, the Chief Officer for Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, says it's important we work together:

"People who are genuinely ill, and some may be quite old, are more likely to go into crisis over winter.

"We need to make sure that our A&Es are free and able to deal with those really high need and high acuity incidents.

"So we're asking people to think if there's really a need, or if there is an alternative.

"All we're asking is, that given our A&Es are going to be under significant pressure this winter - we know they are, because they always are - just to ask people to think about what other options might be available.

"We're not trying to be unreasonable, we know people will still come to A&E under certain circumstances and they will still get treated."