Northampton General Hospital urging patients to use other NHS services

We are experiencing intense pressure on our accident and emergency department and are urging people to choose the most appropriate service for their needs and seek advice as soon as they start to feel unwell.

We are asking for the support of our local community to help us to ease the pressure on our hospital.

This includes visiting pharmacists who are experts in medicines and who are trained to help you with minor health concerns, using the NHS app to; book GP appointments, order repeat prescriptions, view your GP medical record, quickly check symptoms, and access NHS 111. If you are unsure of which service you need or need urgent advice please phone NHS 111 or use their online service.

Please only come to A&E if you have a serious or life-threatening illness or injury.

As well as this we also need your support in coming to collect your loved ones as soon as they are ready to go home. You can prepare for them to return home by ensuring they have food ready for them, the heating is on to at least 18 degrees C, ensuring transport is available to get them home and being there to support them if they need it.

Deborah Needham, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer,thanked staff and the public for their support “On average we are seeing over 420 patients coming in to our A&E department each day. Yesterday 46% of people who came to A&E could have gone elsewhere for treatment. We are urging people to use other NHS services and make the right choice. We are seeing a lot of people come into our A&E with chest infections which could have been treated sooner had people visited their pharmacist or GP. By seeking advice sooner you or your loved ones may be able to prevent your condition worsening and needing to come to hospital.

“Unfortunately due to the pressures on our accident and emergency department we have had to take the decision to cancel non-urgent operations which require an overnight stay with us. We would like to apologise to anyone affected by these cancellations. We do not take this decision lightly and only do this when we need those beds to treat the sickest patients in our community. We will contact anyone affected and reschedule these operations.

“Our teams are working extremely hard to provide the best care for patients and will continue to do so over the winter period. We are so proud of how hard they are working and would like to thank the community for their ongoing understanding support for their local hospital”