Isn't this in the part of GB where the turkeys are sick?

[susie]

(and I hope that I put this in the right place)

 

 

Hospital put on alert as ambulances stack up

Lee Glendinning

The Guardian

Thursday November 22 2007

 

Up to 10 ambulances had to queue outside a flagship NHS hospital in Norwich yesterday after it ran out of beds.

 

A "black alert" was declared at the £229m Norfolk and Norwich University hospital after it reached full capacity, and paramedics were having to treat incoming patients in the back of vehicles.

 

Non-urgent patients were discharged from the 1,000-bed unit to create space, and an emergency plan intended for a major incident such as a train crash was implemented to cope with demand.

 

The East of England ambulance service said that, at the peak, 10 ambulances out of a fleet of 25 were waiting outside the hospital. The situation eased by yesterday evening, when one remained waiting.

 

A hospital spokeswoman, Hayley Gerrard, stressed that it was not closed, but urged people with only minor health problems not to try to attend its A&E.

 

Ms Gerrard said a dozen other hospitals in East Anglia were on similar alerts. "We are seeing anything and everything coming through the front door - from falls to people with chest problems, diarrhoea and vomiting," she said. "We have declared a major incident in order that all the agencies can take appropriate action to discharge patients and free up beds."

 

The James Paget hospital in Gorleston, Norfolk, was also on black alert, though it was operating, while the Queen Elizabeth in King's Lynn said it had the same high levels of emergency demand

 

[Cat]

(Here's the link:)

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/nov/22/health.nhs

 

 

 

Oh, wow...

 

Quote:

...a dozen other hospitals in East Anglia were on similar alerts...

 

 

They're calling it "anything and everything," but it sure makes you wonder what the common thread is!