NHS pressure as ambulances queue outside Poole Hospital

Members of the public spotted the alarming sight outside Poole's A&E department on Sunday.

It came as one patient described waiting 10 hours to be treated at Royal Bournemouth Hospital, saying they were also told it was a six-hour wait for an ambulance.

Professor Alyson O'Donnell, chief medical officer at University Hospitals Dorset (UHD), said the past few weeks has seen "some of the most significant and sustained pressures on our hospitals faced in recent years".

Ambulances queue outside Poole Hospital A&E

But she praised the "phenomenal staff" who are working tirelessly to cope in exceptionally difficult circumstances.

"This mirrors the national picture, whereby emergency care and ambulance services are experiencing similarly unprecedented demand", she said.

"The challenges are three-fold – large numbers of acutely unwell people requiring urgent hospital care, delays in ensuring some patients already admitted and who are ready to leave can do so, and the ongoing restrictions and reductions in our bed numbers brought about by the continuing and very real presence of Covid-19.

• Read more: Bulk of people in hospital with Covid are unvaccinated

“We are clearly exceptionally busy, but thanks to our phenomenal staff and well-rehearsed operational plans we continue to provide care to all those who need it.

“During this time our first priority has to be providing the most urgent and lifesaving care. This means that many patients in less urgent need of care may have to wait longer than we would like, including in ambulances at our emergency departments.

Ambulances queue at Poole Hospital A&E

“We apologise to those patients and ask for their understanding during this time of exceptional pressures.

“The public can support us, by only using A&E departments when absolutely necessary, and using NHS 111, GPs, pharmacies and walk-in centres for less urgent health information and advice.

• Read more: Dorset emergency hospital admissions at 'unprecedented' levels

“Finally, I would like to pay tribute to the individuals and teams working tirelessly across our hospitals to provide the essential and compassionate care our patients expect from us. It is because of our incredible people and robust processes that I am confident we will weather this storm and emerge stronger on the other side.”

Wait for treatment

Ashley Hamshare, 21, followed advice from NHS 111 and attended A&E at 1am on Sunday, December 5.

When he arrived at the hospital in Castle Lane East, Mr Hamshare was reportedly told he would have to wait 10 hours to be seen by a doctor.

“Being told this by the triage nurse was shocking really, so my response was ‘I suppose I could go home and if anything were to escalate to the point where it was life threatening I could just call an ambulance’ – which their response was it was up to a six-hour wait for an ambulance,” he said.

“I don’t blame the hospital, I don’t think this is their fault. I think it’s more of an issue further up the line which really needs to be addressed.

“What’s it going to take, is someone going to have to die waiting for an ambulance before someone does something about it?”

This weekend’s chaos comes a week after pleas from UHD chiefs for the public not to call 999 unless it is a complete emergency and instead call 111.

'A scary situation'

Broadstone ward councillor Vikki Slade, who posted on social media about the amount of ambulances seen outside Poole Hospital on Sunday, said: “It’s a really scary situation.

“Without wanting to be crass about it, we have people who don’t want to comply with Covid regulations and we have these poor people working in the hospital who are working in extreme conditions and as residents we should be doing all we can to make their lives as easy as possible.

“We’re at the start of winter now - if things are like this at the start of winter what are we going to be like in January, February time?”