WORRIED doctors at the Royal Bolton Hospital fear people are not seeking their help for potential life threatening conditions.

Numbers of people going to the accident and emergency department at the hospital have fallen since the coronavirus pandemic began amid concerns about coming into contact with Covid-19 carriers.

But the hospital trust’s medical director Dr Francis Andrews stresses anyone needing urgent treatment should not be worried as measures have been put in place to keep people with coronavirus symptoms away from others in A&E and on the wards.

He said: “We are still open to treat acute and life threatening conditions.

“If you are injured or seriously ill you should come to hospital as we have all the usual treatments available in Accident & Emergency (A&E).

“We don’t want anyone to avoid coming to hospital if they need urgent medical treatment.

“If you have for example chest pain, stroke symptoms, heavy bleeding, severe tummy pain or headache, or have a child who is very unwell, we have life-saving treatments for you. Don’t delay.”

The hospital’s maternity service is also continuing to operate as normal. Although, to ensure everyone’s safety, only a single birthing partner will be able to accompany mums during delivery.

To keep people safe the hospital has also introduced visiting restrictions.

But it has also launched a range of measures to help people stay in touch with their loved ones such as putting ipads into every ward and enabling people to email letters to their loved ones that can be delivered or read out.

Dr Andrews added: “We would like to reassure people that providing patients with the highest possible level of care is our number one priority.

"We treat everyone who attends Bolton Foundation Trust as individuals. We aim to meet all their needs both physical and spiritual with compassion and understanding.

"We understand these are challenging times but would like to thank people for their continued support.”