Medics have warned that Royal Bolton Hospital’s accident and emergency department is still “very busy” even after a drainage problem was solved.
The Minerva Road hospital was forced to close part of its well-used A&E department for several hours on Tuesday March 19 because of problems with managing the drains.
The department was fully reopened within hours but hospital staff have warned the public that they are still facing high pressure.
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust chief operating officer Rae Wheatcroft said: “Following an issue with our drains, yesterday afternoon we temporarily closed part of our Emergency Department while we resolved the problem and carried out a deep-clean of the area.
“Thanks to the hard-work of our teams we were able to fully reopen the department later in the evening.
“We would also like to thank our patients and visitors for their understanding as we prioritised care for patients who most needed our help.
“We continue to be very busy today and would ask people to once again think carefully about the right place for their care, which includes local GPs and pharmacies for minor conditions or 111.nhs.uk to get support for symptoms.”
After the drainage issue on Tuesday, Ms Wheatcroft and her colleagues warned the public to only come to A&E if they were facing “life or limb” threatening injuries or illnesses.
This came not long after last warned people that waiting times at A&E had become extremely long.
On Thursday March 14 the hospital warned that average wait times for people with non-emergency injuries or illnesses had soared to around seven hours.
This came after frequent warnings over the last few months and more than a year after the health trust’s “think twice” campaign that ran over the winter of 2022.
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This encouraged people to avoid attending A&E unless it was strictly necessary.
Now, Royal Bolton Hospital staff have said that they are prioritising patients most in need of help.
They say that the most seriously ill and injured patients will always been seen immediate.
But they have been warned that given the need to prioritise the most seriously ill patients, they are likely to face long waits.
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