Warning to Greater Manchester patients over long waiting times at A&E

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A hospital trust in Greater Manchester has warned patients their accident and emergency departments are 'very busy' - with people being told to expect long waiting times.

The Northern Care Alliance (NCA), which runs Salford Royal, The Royal Oldham, Fairfield General, and Rochdale Infirmary have issued a statement on social media telling patients to expect longer wait times than "they would want." This is primarily said to be due to 'workforce pressures' as a result of coronavirus and 'patient flow challenges' where patients deemed medically fit for discharge are still in hospital beds. READ MORE:Two found dead in south Manchester flats named as investigations continue It comes as new figures revealed that a record number of patients were forced to wait more than 12 hours for a bed at two hospitals in Greater Manchester last month.

And one-third of patients at each of the region's A&E's waited more than four hours. Greater Manchester's A&E struggles are reflected across the country, as England as a whole marks record waits and the largest ever number of people waiting for treatment.

The head of the British Medical Association has warned "these latest NHS performance statistics highlight the enormous pressure that the health service is still having to endure".