Hospitals in North Yorkshire today admitted they were stretched to the limit by patients suffering from the flu bug sweeping the nation.

Doctors at York District Hospital have dealt with more than 200 patients brought in over the weekend with the virus, about a quarter of whom have been admitted to wards. The hospital's general manager Colin Watts said 32 operations had been cancelled today because 75 elderly patients were taking up beds on surgery wards.

Extra nursing staff have been called in to help with the rush, and to cover for duty nurses who have themselves been struck down with flu. North Yorkshire Ambulance Service reported that its crews had been kept busy all weekend ferrying flu cases to hospital.

Health Secretary Frank Dobson has conceded there is a crisis after doctors, hospitals and ambulance services across the country admitted they were not coping with the epidemic. He has released £150 million nationally to fund initiatives to clear hospital beds.

A spokeswoman for York District Hospital said: "I hope people are not being delayed in getting treatment, but we are working to full capacity. It is very busy and we are still taking in patients thick and fast. We are stretched to the limit. All staff who can be in have been called in to help us cope, but some nurses have gone off sick suffering from the flu virus."

At Scarborough General Hospital, where critical patients have been transferred from the intensive care unit to other hospitals, senior nurse Polly Norman said: "We have been stretched but things are under control at the moment, though certainly it's been tight. We have had a lot of flu cases and also a lot of staff going off sick with it themselves."

Malton Hospital has had nine admissions since New Year's Day - double the normal - and has been hit by severe nursing shortages due to the flu.

Richard Ord, director of planning at Harrogate Health Trust, said: "It is putting a lot of pressure on us, not only beds but staff as well."

He said the town's district hospital had been forced to bring in extra staff and resort to the unusual step of opening its day surgery ward on a Sunday, providing an extra 20 beds.

Doctors said the flu strain, called H3N2 Sydney flu - after the city where it was discovered - would cause the normal aches and pains associated with the virus and advised sufferers to take to their beds.

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