Leicester Hospitals have declared a critical incident. This comes as the University of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) is asking patients to call 111 before coming to the A&E department at Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI).
The trust shared on social media that it was currently experiencing a very high demand for services across its hospitals. It explained that people will be “directed more quickly and easily” to a “better place” for their needs by calling 111.
According to LeicestershireLive, one local resident claimed that a nurse working at the LRI had said there were 400 people waiting in A&E at 10:30am this morning and a further 50 people waiting in the backs of ambulances. The news site also claimed that another person shared that “seriously ill people were waiting for nine hours in the back of ambulances” on social media. The claims have not been verified by the trust.
http://Express.co.uk has approached the trust for more information on the situation.
