Health chiefs plead with patients to use Wigan's overwhelmed A&E appropriately

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (WWL) issued a public message to remind people accessing the medical services that the accident and emergency department is for serious and life-threatening emergencies only.

In a post on Facebook the Trust said: “We are currently experiencing exceptionally long waits in our A&E department and urge you to access it appropriately.

"Use NHS 111 online or by phone to determine the most appropriate place for you health needs.”

Serious and life-threatening conditions may include: severe chest pain, difficulty breathing, bleeding you can’t stop, possible broken bones or loss of consciousness.

The message comes after NHS England released data which revealed long delays faced by patients seeking care at the unit, as well as other hospitals nationwide.

The NHS is under pressure as it deals with the backlog caused by the pandemic, but demand during the traditionally busy winter months now seems to be compounding the problem even further.

At Wigan’s A&E, just 46 per cent of patients were seen within the target time of four hours in November – down from 48.4 per cent in October and from 55.3 per cent in November last year. This was the worst performance since at least 2015.

Leigh Walk-In Centre saw 98.7 per cent of patients in that time, which pushed the overall performance for WWL up to 64.8 per cent.

The operational standard is that at least 95 per cent of patients attending A&E should be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.

A total of 68.9 per cent of patients in England were seen within four hours in A&Es last month, down from 69.3 per cent in October and the worst performance on record.

Healthcare proffessional are now urging people to consider alternatives to A&E if their condition is not limb or life-threatening.

A&E is unaffected by emergency ambulance and nurse strikes.

If you think you may need medical help but it is not a serious or life-threatening condition, you can visit: www.111.nhs.uk and speak to an advisor.