• Fire engine doubles as ambulance due to high demand
  • Ambulances waiting hours to hand over patients, says paramedic
  • Major incident at Scarborough
  • Public urged to think twice before going to emergency department

A FIRE engine had to take an elderly woman to hospital and ambulances have been queuing outside A&E, as the immense pressure at York Hospital shows little sign of easing.

Many non-urgent operations continue to be postponed and a major incident was today declared at Scarborough Hospital, as York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which runs both hospitals, responded to unprecedented demand.

>>> MORE: Major incident at Scarborough Hospital

Today, ambulances queued outside York Hospital's A&E with paramedics waiting "for hours" for their patients to be admitted.

An elderly woman who had fallen in Acorn Way in Woodthorpe and suffered facial injuries last Friday was taken to hospital in a passing fire engine as the ambulance service was "extremely busy", a spokeswoman for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said today.

Sarah Hearld, owner of Harvey Richard Hairdressing in Moorcroft Road, said a woman had come into the salon with blood on her hand.

“She said she had been helping out after an elderly woman had fallen and cut her head really badly,” she said.

“She told me everyone had been amazed when a fire engine had turned up out of the blue and taken her away to hospital.”

York Press:

One paramedic, who asked not to be named, said some crews waited hours to hand over patients at York Hospital yesterday and said there were up to ten ambulances waiting to hand over their patients at one stage.

"For the last three weeks it has been this bad," they said.

"As part of the NHS we are failing our patients because if you have to wait there you can't help someone else. The answer has got to be opening more wards and having more staff .

"There has been a huge core volume over the last few weeks. There has got to be a place to put people and treat people in a humane manner."

A major incident plan was today declared at Scarborough Hospital, increasing the hospital's focus on the most ill patients.

While York Hospital has not been declared a major incident, the situation is continually under review, a hospital spokesperson said.

Mike Proctor, deputy chief executive at the trust, said: “Both York and Scarborough Hospitals will continue to be here to help anyone who needs urgent assessment and care, however the public can really help us by only coming to the emergency departments in an emergency.

“Taking the appropriate action to treat your condition, which might mean contacting your GP or attending a pharmacy, walk-in centre or Minor Injuries Unit, will help to ensure that we are able to treat those patients whose need is greatest."

Mark Inman, head of emergency operations in North Yorkshire at Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS), said: “Effective handovers from the ambulance service to hospital emergency departments are an integral part of delivering the best clinical care for patients... During times of high demand, which is the case currently, hospitals may experience busy periods which, understandably, can result in delays.

"Yorkshire Ambulance Service continues to work closely with hospitals in North Yorkshire to minimise any impact on patients."

Last week, The Press reported York Hospital was under immense pressure after being inundated with patients over Christmas.

Hospital wards in York were completely full after hundreds more patients than expected arrived at A&E over the holiday period.

Nationally, more people are visiting A&E than ever before and "bed blocking" has become an issue as hospitals are finding it harder to discharge patients - partly due to cuts in social care budgets. Two other hospitals in Gloucestershire have also declared major incidents.

York Press:

How we broke news of the crisis last week