Hospitals and emergency services in south Essex at breaking point, with long waits for beds and up to 20-hour waits for ambulances.

Patients have reported being told by ambulance operators they may have to wait between 14 and 20 hours for help, and being advised to make their own way to hospital which they argued reduced the risk of survival.

Campaigners claim there are waiting times of up to 36 hours for beds in some wards.

A spokesman for Mid and South Essex NHS Trust , which runs Southend and Basildon hospitals, confirmed that there was “high demand” at present. 

They urged people not to attend A&E unless it was an urgent, life-threatening situation.

One patient posted online: “Southend A&E is fit to bursting.

“There are no beds on the wards and patients are being left on trolleys or waiting in their cars. Ambulances aren’t reaching critical patients in time and then queuing outside Southend Hospital.”

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Campaign group Save Southend NHS said that one source, working at the trust, reported 36-hour waits for beds in some wards. 

They added that staff were locked out of a special clinic at Southend Hospital which was designed to cut waiting times, branding it a “classic example of management failure”.

A spokesman said: “Staff are working under tremendous pressure and have been for years. Without increased government funding, the NHS will continue to fail.

“For example dermatology, which handles the bulk of its patients at Basildon, now has a special Saturday clinic in Southend in an effort to reduce waiting lists.

“Last Saturday, the first day of operation, patients were kept waiting because the Outpatient Area 2 at the hospital - set aside for the clinic - was locked and staff were delayed accessing the area. Another classic example of management failure.”

A spokesman for the trust said: “We are seeing high demand in our A&E departments.

“Members of the public can help by calling NHS 111 before coming to A&E, other than where there is an urgent life threatening situation.”

They added: “This reduces the number of visitors to our emergency department and will enable our staff to care for members of the public who do need the specialist skills and urgent care that we provide.”