Health officials unable to say how many operations cancelled in Shropshire

A total of 26 operations were cancelled between Monday and Wednesday at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. But hospital chiefs have been unable to provide an update on the situation since.

Health bosses have called on people to stay away from A&E departments in the county unless their visit is absolutely necessary.

Directors at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust said demand reached "peak levels" on Wednesday, but could not yet calculate the overall number of cancelled operations.

Health bosses apologised for the situation but said that hospital staff were facing an unprecedented demand. It comes after a number of cancellations at the hospital last week.

Debbie Kadum, chief operating officer at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said: "We have seen increased demand this week and unfortunately we did have to make the decision to cancel some planned operations, which is never something we do lightly.

"We reached peak levels of demand on Wednesday. Since then that has eased slightly which meant that on Friday we did not need to cancel any planned procedures.

"However, we are anticipating a busy weekend and we expect that high demand on our services to continue throughout next week.

"During the last week we have seen a high volume of very poorly people, so it is even more important to stress that if people do not need to come to A&E please consider an alternative.

"I would like to remind people that our A&E departments are for life-threatening and emergency conditions and we need to make sure these services are available for people who really need them.

"Local pharmacies can offer advice on common problems such as coughs, colds, aches and pains and can also help you decide whether you need to see a doctor.

"Minor injuries units in Bridgnorth, Whitchurch, Ludlow and Oswestry may treat people quicker than A&E for minor injuries. They are staffed by experienced nurses and patients that attend one of the units will be assessed and treated as quickly as possible.

"Plans are in place throughout the whole local health system to ensure services are opening and running throughout the festive period. For example, the minor injuries unit in Oswestry has extended its opening hours until 6pm over the next three weekends.

"All of our staff have worked extremely hard over what has been the busiest period we have experience in at least the last 12 months to ensure our patients have been cared for safely and I would like to thank all of them for their efforts."

NHS England medical director Sir Bruce Keogh said that budget cuts and high expectations were making it "difficult" for the health service.

He said earlier this week that the NHS was "creaking under pressure" across the whole of the country and that A&E departments struggled with a rise in demand for services over the winter months.