Ambulances diverted as A&E in Shropshire fills up

David Evans, chief officer for Telford & Wrekin clinical commissioning group (CCG), told a meeting of the governance board yesterday that ambulances had to be diverted away from Shropshire for a short time over the festive period.

It came as The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust ­(SaTH), which runs Telford's Princess Royal Hospital and Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, faced scaling demands in its accident and emergency departments.

Mr Evans said the pressures had led to ambulances being diverted to Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital.

At a CCG meeting in Telford, he said: "There has been significant pressure locally and nationally around attendance and activity within emergency departments across the country.

"There was one day where there was a divert put in place to New Cross because there was that much pressure on the system."

He said the diversion had affected about four ambulances.

Mr Evans said the CCG had also asked the trust for a plan of how they are re-allocating staff and resources to try and ease pressures on A&E.

In recent weeks, health bosses have been stressing that the accident and emergency departments should only be used for the most serious injuries and illnesses.

SaTH has also been forced to postpone dozens of routine operations due to the high level of demand, which has seen ward areas become full.

The trust says it intends to review elective operations and clinics on a week-by-week basis following a national recommendation to delay non-urgent operations until the end of the month.

NHS England has advised hospitals to defer non-urgent, elective operations and procedures.