SOUTHEND Hospital has declared a code black crisis after being flooded by high numbers of patients needing emergency treatment.

Following a review meeting today, the hospital declared it was in the middle of a critical incident because of high numbers of acutely ill and injured patients needing beds.

The hospital was already operating at full capacity since the May Bank Holiday weekend, which saw very high attendance.

On Monday, 351 patients and 118 ambulances attended the emergency department, the highest numbers recorded to date.

Chief executive Sue Hardy said: “Like other trusts across Essex and the wider region, the pressure on our services is not abating, and we continue to see more acutely unwell medical patients coming through our doors, as well as a higher than usual number of patients who have suffered falls and fractures.

“Our staff are working extremely hard to cope with the current pressures while maintaining high standards of care, and I’d like to thank them for their commitment during this difficult period.

“We are looking at all the clinic appointments and deciding which patient appointments we can safely cancel in the short term, which will help us to ‘reset’ the system in the hospital by concentrating all our efforts on reviewing inpatients, safely discharging patients who are medically fit and freeing up more beds.

“We will assess the effectiveness of this action and use what we learn to enable us to plan well for the next Bank Holiday.

“We will contact every patient affected by the cancellations, so if you do not hear from us, please do attend your scheduled appointment.”

Some outpatient medical clinics, such as gastroenterology and elderly medicine, are set to be cancelled on Friday and Monday to free up senior clinical staff.

Hospital bosses hope this will allow inpatients to be seen more frequently and more quickly.

Ms Hardy added: "The emergency department is very busy and we have to warn patients that those attending with 'non-urgent' conditions will wait much longer than usual as patients are prioritised according to how unwell they are.

"We would like to remind anyone who is unsure of the best course of action to always ring NHS 111 for health advice 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or to speak with your GP or pharmacist."

The hospital is asking members of the public to only visit the accident and emergency department if they are seriously unwell or critically injured.

Choking, chest pain, blacking out, blood loss and fractures are all considered emergencies, and those with symptoms like this should not hesitate to visit A&E.