Critical incident NHS under pressure 'for a month'

A health boss at a county's NHS that has declared a critical incident said its hospitals had been dealing with high demand for more than a month.

The NHS in Northamptonshire said there was mounting pressure on health services, which were at full capacity.

Ongoing demand, particularly at Northampton and Kettering general hospitals, culminated in the escalation.

Dr Naomi Caldwell, deputy chief medical officer, said A&E departments were "incredibly busy".

By declaring a critical incident, it enables the NHS to prioritise urgent care and expand capacity where possible.

It aims to open additional beds and collaborate with its partners to maintain essential services.

Speaking to BBC Radio Northampton, Dr Caldwell said: "We have been dealing with winter pressures for at least a month now, probably more.

"It has reached a point where we really need to look at opening additional beds to support the system, to support patients and keep everybody safe."

She said the NHS was dealing with "really high rates of flu at the moment, which is driving a lot of this respiratory conditions [and there are] people just being very unwell and needing hospital care".

Dr Caldwell said although Northampton and Kettering hospitals' emergency departments were busy, "there are very clear systems pathways and protocols in place" to treat patients.

She added she did not know how long the critical incident would be in place for, but it was "being reviewed several times a day, every day".

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