So far this month, our A&Es have been extremely busy. On Monday 18 March, we experienced the most attendances we’ve seen in at least five years – with almost 1,200 patients through our A&Es and urgent treatment centres, and 119 ambulances arriving at Queen’s Hospital alone, way above what we’d usually see in an average day.

This means both our A&Es are over capacity and some people will face long waits. We must treat the sickest patients first so anyone who does not need emergency care will face long waits to be seen and treated.

Please consider alternatives to A&E if it is not an emergency, such as your GP or local pharmacy. If you are unsure where to go, you can also seek advice from NHS 111 online, or by calling 111. More information can be found on our where to get the right treatment page.

Our Chief Executive, Matthew Trainer, said:

This week saw the busiest day across our A&Es in at least five years, quite possibly the busiest day we’ve ever had.

This means we are having to care for some patients on hospital beds in corridors, and we have put extra patients on wards where we have the space. We’ve also brought in extra staff to care for them.

Some people will wait far longer than we would like. We are sorry for these delays, and our staff are working hard to catch up. Please think about whether you really need A&E before coming in; and be prepared to wait a long time if you do.